Virustale
by ElectroSkull64
Summary: Taking 5 years after Frisk had (attempt) cleared the Underground, everyone was happy that their home was saved. However, due to the cost of reviving Chara, monster kind is still trapped but have adjusted to their fate. What they don't know is that a darkness is rising, threatening to destroy the happy lives of everyone in it and devour Underground.
1. Prologue-Just the beginning

The gloomy and empty corridor whistled with an eerie silence. Uneven broken moss tiles covered the ceramic zombie green floor. The walls were chipped, cracked and un-cared for. Only the sound of water dripping from ancient wrecked pipe-works on the high ceiling could be heard; the echoing of footsteps trailed distantly down the dusty hallway. A medium figure, under cover by the darkness cautiously made their way past the many doors that lingered in the background.

Eventually the figure turned the corner and halted for the moment, unlatching their lilac backpack which hung from their right shoulder. They heard something rummaging about in there and sighed knowing that their partner wanted to come out and un-zipped the bag.

A little azure blob shaped creature excitedly floated out from the bag and affectionately nuzzled its owner's cheek, a soft purr emanating from its non-existent throat. Its silicon jelly body was round as a globe and it had lustrous pearl pink large round eyes shaped like orbs that glowed as bright as the stars. It had a small pink nose with thin whiskers; a sapphire diamond shaped marking was imprinted in the middle of its four head as a galactic patterned patch surrounded its right eye. Its long ears were pointy like stalactites; it also had a long tail that was tied with a midnight ribbon indicating it was female as it swished its tail about in contentment while its small little paws hung by its sides.

After giving their pet a little stroke the figure switched on the torch light they retrieved from their bag, brightening up the path a little as the two continued their walk. They eventually came to a large door that revealed a labelled bronze bar with the titled words **Documentation Room** in a thick bold text when they shone their light. The figure smiled, knowing that this was the place the doctor had sent them to check out. They opened the door hearing a loud creeeak then beckoned their pet in with them, as they placed their backpack onto their back again.

They entered the room switching it a glow; they had to shield their eyes from the light's intensity because of how bright it was. They waited for their eyes to properly adjust to their surroundings before surveying the area. They saw that they were in a room that looked like an office from the way things were displayed.

There was a large grey cabinet with four wide draws to the right, a desk to the left side of the room with a swivel chair, another cabinet right by the desk with a pile of four opened boxes and a large tall dusty mirror that seemed to be on the right side as well. Curiosity struck them for the moment as the figure moved towards the tall glass canvas, wiping away some of the dust with their hand as their reflection stood, staring straight back at them.

She stood at four feet and two centimetres tall. Her milk chocolate skin was a bit darkened from the dust that accumulated from her stroll in the lab's hall. Her sun golden amber eyes glistened with the same amount of excitement before she set foot in this area, however, they now drooped with a little hint of fatigue that were encased by her black and crimson rounded glasses.

She lifted them a little and rubbed one of her eyes with her right hand that was covered in a soot black leather fingerless glove- an oozing, toxic purple intimidating looking skull head was imprinted on it; her other arm hung loosely at her side with the same pair of designed glove. She was dressed in her usual attire of a black short sleeved shirt, emerald trousers that were held firm by a silver belt which was marked by a dark pink heart shaped emblem that stood in the centre and she wore oak brown boots at her feet.

She was wrapped in a magenta hooded jacket that was firmly zipped which protected her from the cold temperatures. Her medium shoulder length shadow purple bob lay against the back of her neck showered by a hue of gleaming snow white sparkling stars illuminating the midnight and bright azure flames that emblazoned the bottom of her frizzled hair like a firework.

Who would have guessed that Aurora Nebulem was the assistant of the great royal scientist at the age of only 13 years?

"Jee, I really could use comb right about now. And a face wash too" she chuckled quietly to herself after realising the state of her appearance.

A moment later a loud clattering noise sounded across the room not too far from where she was standing which made her jump a little in fear. Turning around slowly, she saw her pet jelly cat peeking out from one of the draw cabinets, as she breathed and relaxed; shaking her head at silly reaction that she thought something was out to get her. Aurora couldn't help but smirk at the ridiculous sight that her pet was in; a paper was stuck to the jelly cat's head.

"Come on Galaxy, stop fooling around girl," she scolded her "We gotta find those papers and take them to Alphys before dusk" the cat only responded with a soft playful meow, blinking at her owner who tapped their foot impatiently, arms folded. Galaxy understood that when Aurora became stern with her that it was time to get to work. So the cat started her search and her owner joined in immediately after.

As they searched and searched Aurora looked all around on her side as she quickly skimmed through things; she wanted to be done as fast as she could, the next live show on TV which was on tonight that was presented by the famous Mettaton was something she didn't want to be missing. She looked through all four cabinets by the desk, unfortunately stumbling on a letter or two that was written to Undyne about how the doctor expressed her awe of the fish; that made her giggle. In the end though, she couldn't find much else after poking around in the boxes. She expelled a little frustrated sigh.

"Damn, looks like there's not much here then..." she said, a clear disappointment in her tone. The girl stared out of the corner of her eye at Galaxy whom she thought was playing around again as she didn't properly look at her partner "Well, looks like what we were looking for wasn't here after all. Come on Galaxy, I know you're just playing again so... let's just go home"

Just when she was about to give up the search, to her surprise the cat came floating over with the papers that read **Studies upon how the SOUL and DETERMINATION** work nipped in her small mouth, giving what Aurora always thought was the most adorable stare in the world. It always made her heart melt whenever Galaxy made her eyes larger than they already were.

"Awww, you are just the cutest thing in the world. And here I thought you were just messing around again. I'm sorry I doubted you... Kudos for finding the papers Galaxy!" she praised her pet as she took the papers and placed them into her backpack then held out a little piece of cat treat that was wrapped in a small paper bag and fed her one as a job well done. Galaxy purred in satisfaction as the food that was floating in her body evaporated, letting the aftertaste fill her with joy.

Done with their errand, the two were about to leave the room when suddenly...

 _Bzzzztt..._

 _ZAP!_

 ** _...CRACK!_**

The human girl jumped in fright at the sudden power outage, looking up at the ceiling for a bit as everything went dark. **_That's strange... the lights were working fine before..._** she thought.

Aurora and Galaxy were halfway down the gruesome hall. Striding with caution as they made their way down, for some reason the air seemed to be getting a lot colder than it was before. Every step they took only seemed to get more intense with cold... when all of a sudden Galaxy started to growl protectively. Aurora couldn't tell why, but the cat seemed to sense that something or someone was watching them and that had given her enough of an understanding that they needed to be more careful; who knew what was really out there. Before she could even take one more step, out of the shadows something moved, it rushed right passed her barely clipping her face.

 ** _Ouch..._** she winced at the little cut she now had on her face, feeling the heat on her skin from where the small droplets of red blood oozed out from. She was starting to get a bit annoyed from all these sudden things happening out of the blue. Whoever was lurking in the shadows now had her attention and she was going to find out exactly who it was. She told herself that she wasn't going to be scared- well, try her best not be as she shook a little, now holding a medium sized frying pan in her hands.

"A-alright, whoever the h-hell you are I suggest you c-come out of there r-right now! I-I-I know we're not alone in here a-and I have a frying pan! I-I'm n-not afraid t-to use it!" she yelled

 _Silence..._

Everything seemed just a tad too quiet for her liking but she kept her guard up, preparing to defend her best friend if anything was to happen, because she knew Galaxy would do the same as the cat was by her side preparing for the danger.

What they didn't expect... was an _ambush._

Swiftly striking forwards like a hungry snake two void black tendrils shot out of the darkness wrapping tightly around the human girl's ankles, attempting to pull her down as she struggled.

Galaxy immediately came to her aid as she saw that more vines were entangling themselves around her owner and the human girl was beginning to scream in panic as the frying pan was forcefully flung out of her hands and she was being dragged across the floor. The cat's paws lit up like a firecracker; they formed two large sabres that sawed through the vines like a hedge cutter that immediately had them evaporate.

Sighing in relief for the moment Aurora slowly got back up seeing her cat float towards her and meow in concern.

"I... I'm okay... I'll be fine." She mumbled, still feeling scared "C-come on let's get out of here before anything els-" before she could finish, a large swarm of black vines sprung out of the murky hall instantly grabbing the cat this time attempting to speedily pull her away from safety. Frantically searching for her frying pan as she saw Galaxy fighting for their life, Aurora turned left and right, panic beginning to rise within her chest as her heartbeat quicken **_I have to do something, and quick!_** She thought, though she couldn't see her weapon anywhere.

All she could think about now... was saving Galaxy. She knew what she was about to do was very risky but knowing that she would get hurt, she was going to do it anyways.

Giving it her best shot she bolted up to the army of vines that were keeping up the oncoming attacks on her cat who was struggling and becoming more exhausted the more she used her powers. Aurora rammed as hard as she could to try and knock away the vines that were desperately trying to swallow Galaxy but in the midst of the battle, one of the vines drew up from beneath whipping her hard with a blow to the stomach.

Her body was sent sprawling as she landed a few meters away from them, slamming hard on her back as the wind was knocked out from her. She tried to stand, but couldn't get up... her vision became a little hazy as she staggered to straighten herself, the pain shooting up her back and around her shoulders made her wince.

When she squinted into the distance, she thought she saw something of a blue colour; hope filled her heart because she thought Galaxy had got free, but as her vision became a lot clearer she couldn't help but feel a knot tighten in her chest and her stomach lurch with a very deep worry...

To her horror Galaxy... _was gone._

She slowly stood up desperately calling out to her cat as loud as she could, but she knew that the vines consumed her closest friend. She was all alone.

 ** _Alright calm down... I'll figure this out. When I find the person who did this, I'm going to make sure they pay if they lay even a finger on her._**

She didn't want to see what would happen next. Something snapped within her as her fears were replaced, replaced with a strong feeling, a strong feeling of justice. She had enough, a torrent of hot flames furiously burned deep within her core. She was really angry that her friend was taken, knowing she was defenseless without her weapon, she was determined she going to get her cat back; even if it was at the cost of her own life.

"Nggaaah! Alright now I'm really, REALLY mad! Whoever you are quit playing your dumb tricks! Give her back or I'm calling the authorities! I don't care what kind of monster you are, but kidnapping another monster is a criminal offense and you wouldn't want know what happens when you go to monster prison!" she bellowed loudly as she stood there waiting.

 _Scuttle..._ she turned around but nothing was there, she was beginning to get extremely fed up now.

 _Scuttle! SCUTTLE!_ She turned the other way but still nothing was there. She felt fear slowly seeping back in as she tensed a little. A lone vine sneakily crept up from behind... twisted around her out of nowhere... and launched her right into the wall making her whole body vibrate with an intense pain before she slid weakly to the ground! Luckily she had her backpack cushioning her back so it didn't hurt her too much this time.

She opened her eyes, it took a moment for her eyes to clear up from the impact she had just taken but for a split second she thought it was just her imagination.

Then she realised... someone... or _something had emerged from the darkness._

 _Tap...Tap..._ _ **Tap!**_ They were drawing closer and halted just a distance away.

She couldn't help but shiver. A cold chill ran throughout her whole being as an ominous, gruelling laugh sounded from the one who stood in front of her.

Bone-chilling venom glowing eyes stared directly at her from pitch-black sockets. She couldn't distinguish much from them because it was so dark, she could only see that they were all one colour; a smoky grey like thick rain clouds when a storm was brewing.

"Call the authorities eh? ~ HAH! Don't make me laugh. "a distorted voice rang out, smugness in its tone. Though she couldn't say for certain whether the voice was a girl's or a boy's, when the creature approached a little nearer, a small light hitting its face revealed it to have an appearance that seemed more boyish.

Their hair was smoothed back but spiky at the front with two blood red streaks. They were dressed in a light grey long sleeved silken sweater streamed with a coal grey stripe on each sleeve near their clawed hands while in the centre of their clothes was a black flame surrounding a white skull. They wore coal grey track suit pants that were painted in light grey stripes and clad in short boots that were of the same colour scheme as their whole outfit, a flame pattern trailed from the side of the shoes to the soles with a little dark skull on the side.

"So, you really think anyone will believe a word you say if you told them that you saw a mysterious creature in the dark that looked like a human but was covered all in grey?" he grinned confidently as he saw her expression wavering.

"W-well... while that may be the case that no one would believe me if I said that, I could still prove that th-there was someone here!" she tried to sound brave, glaring at the entity.

"Oh...? And exactly what were you going to prove it with?" they eyed Aurora's backpack with a hint of curiosity, a sly smirk played across their face as they unleashed a black vine that forcefully seized the girl, pulling her toward them as she screamed and was hung airborne, wriggling like a worm in her attempts to break free as she saw her bag being taken from her.

"I'm assuming this backpack of yours?" they enquired ... they saw her tense up at that as she stopped struggling, "Or is it because of what you're hiding in the bag? Is that what this is all about?" they unzipped the bag, pulling out the papers with a claw and presented the evidence to her face! She froze on the spot. Her eyes had become the size of peas, the entity chuckled in satisfaction "Ooh, now that's the reaction I was looking for~ as for how I found out about these, I was keeping an eye-socket on you the whole time" they grinned

She couldn't believe that she never sensed them before, she felt... ashamed.

"So... n-now that you've found that out... w-w-what are you going to with me?" she nervously asked trying to think of a way to escape the freak.

"You know, that's actually a pretty good question," the entity bought her down so close that their faces were only a few inches away from touching as they still held her in the vine tightly "What do you think I'm going to do to you?"

"U-um... let me and my friend go and leave like n-nothing ever happened?" she grinned out of sheer anxiety, nervously fiddling with her hands, beads of sweat dripping down her face, her heart beginning to pound harder than ever before... she had a feeling in her gut that something really bad was going to happen.

They gave a softened expression for the moment which made Aurora feel relieved but then suddenly she saw the monstrous, psychotic look in their eyes as she saw Galaxy being violently thrown out of the darkness and slamming against the wall before toppling to the floor.

"N-n-n-noooo! Galaxy!" she wailed in anguish. She shook all over, scared to death about what they really were going to do her as she heard them laughing maniacally in pleasure of the pain they caused the animal.

"She's getting discharged from the hospital for sure; but you, **_YOU'RE coming with me_**!" they cackled evilly, their eyes filled with malice, their mouth widening into a crazy gaping smile as they eyed the girl, seeing utter fear displayed openly on her face as she started screaming loudly while they took over her body. Their work done from this place, the entity took a moment to marvel at their new body before they proceeded to move on, vanishing gracefully under a cloak of dark aura with their new captive.

This wasn't the end of a rising darkness.

In fact, the fun was only _just beginning._

 _A figure awoke with a sudden panic in her laboratory bedroom. Her racing heart and the quickened short gasps indicated she had a nightmare. Her tanned golden scaly face was beaded with sweat drops as she trembled a bit shakily, a heat vibrating throughout her body from the cotton sea blue blanket that was draped around her while she was seated in her bed. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, the little sacs underneath proved her sleep deprivation. After a moment or two, she calmed down a little but was still in shock from the dream that had just occurred only minutes ago._

 ** _"_** ** _W-what...what was that all about..?"_**


	2. Chapter 1-The News

**_It's been 5 years since that horrible incident... though the barrier was never broken due to a cost. The strong desires of monster kind hoping to ever return to the surface had slowly diminished. They knew... it was better to accept what fate had destined for them and in the end we've stayed where we've always been imprisoned... the Underground. Nothing much has really changed, apart from the new school for monsters that was built in the Ruins and some new rules were en-stated by M- the queen herself, that any human who now fell down here would be treated as an equal and not as a threat. Until this day, that's how it's always been and hopefully for everyone's sake will stay._**

It was a normal ordinary quiet day in Snowdin Town. Everyone was going through their daily routines. The library was booming with readers and Grillby's was teeming with a lot of customers. One house that was stationed near the pathway out of town was carved in a mint candy green trigular roof, decorated with a ginger bread layout and two glazed bubblegum blue windows. A chocolate brown door stood on guard as the entrance with a golden crisp handle and a bell that was shaped like a candy cane.

It started in a large white and ocean blue spacious living room. Sitting upright on one of the dark blue couches, garbed in a midnight and white fluffy tufted winter coat over a sky blue long sleeved cardigan and having a pair of matching midnight wholly boots with white tuft over sea blue pants was a small human who was holding a piece of cream paper in one of their blue mitten hands.

Their short chocolate hair sat just a few inches above their shoulders, burgundy orbs slowly scanned through every last word that was written on the note. Their tanned face was filled with sadness when they finished reading it all. Their heart ached at the failure of missing to give their older sibling a last goodbye before they had set off for the long few days journey to their family's to stay with their mother at the Ruins.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye to Chara, and today was their last day too..." they pouted solemnly "So much for promising to wake up early"

An emerald leafy vine slithered over, gingerly rubbing the human's back in hopes of helping its friend to feel better about their disappointment.

"Come on Frisk, I know how you feel," said a milk faced flower with a squeaky voice its expression giving the best understanding stare it could as he looked at them with concern "But you shouldn't wallow over it for too long. Chara will be back by next Tuesday anyways. Come on... give me a smile because today's a big day, and we're going to enjoy it!" the flower cheerfully beamed, its corn yellow petals brushed up against Frisk's face giving them a warm squeeze.

Although they still weren't too happy, Frisk decided to put up a little smile in return at the male flower. They knew their friend was trying his best to cheer them up "Heh heh... thanks, Flowey"

After securely and carefully planting the flower into their zipped jacket, leaving space for Flowey's head and part of his stem, the two headed outside into the freezing weather, shutting the door behind them.

They shivered, even though they were covered quite well by the warmth of their coat; the cold was never the weather Frisk could ever get used to. Even when when they were little they always had trouble facing the winds of nature, they always became... "Achooo!," ill with it. "Uuugh... I hope I don't get another cold today" they sniffed up the fluid that was sailing down from their nostrils and blew it into a tissue paper.

"I hope not either. Just be careful not to get any of it on t-" he felt something wet drip on to one of his petals as his face slowly transform into one of disgust and he started to frantically trying to wipe it off, only to get some of it on his leafy hand "Ew,ew,eeeeew! Arrgh! Friiiisk! Help me get this off!" he whined

The human helpfully bought out another tissue from their pocket tissue pack and wiped Flowey's petals and the hand that had the unfortunate accident.

"Is that better now?" they asked feeling a little embarrassed, the flower gave a nod with a huge relieved sigh as if it was the worst thing that ever happened to him. "Next time make sure you don't get any more on me, alright?" he eyed them in annoyance but then he softened when he saw their guilty expression "Come on, let's go find smiley. He's gotta be around here somewhere"

They casually strolled around in the thick snow searching for their friend. They even asked a large polar bear if she'd seen a male short and stout skeleton with calm lemon eyes with a scar on his left, a silver heart shaped locket around their neck under a glacial scarf topped in a blue jacket while wearing black trousers marked with an ice blue stripe. Bound over his skeletal feet were dark blue fuzzy slippers. The bear rubbed her furry chin in deep thought, then remembered pointing out where she'd last seen him and told them he was hanging around with his brother. Frisk thanked her and headed in that said direction.

Soon the human and flower arrived by a very enormous mansion which still had its wreath that was hanging from the wide door and its chain of dazzling neon lights that were stuck there since last year's Gyftmas. The mail boxes on the side were the same as ever too; the left one was overflowing like a waterfall with junk mail, so much so it could've exploded. The one on the right was simply an empty shell, devoid of anything.

"And you wonder why Papyrus gets so mad at him sometimes. Jeez, the least he could do is try to empty his mailbox from time to time. What a lazy 'bones" Flowey remarked with a roll of his black beady eyes, the human girl giggled at the sarcasm in his tone as they carried on forward.

"Yeah, but you have to feel a bit sorry for Papyrus. He always continuously struggles real hard; though I think he realises that even though he isn't as popular as his brother, he'll always have those few friends who'll always hold a special place in his heart" Frisk beamed at a thought that flashed in her mind of the kind tall skeleton clad in his glorious orange armour, red trailing scarf, fiery boots and woven gloves while posing dramatically and glowing with positive energy like he always does. Flowey didn't say anything instead he simply stayed quiet as they carried on with their walk, yawning a little feeling a bit sleepy from the cold weather.

They could hear voices in the distance now with each step they took. They turned taking the split path that wove its way from between the library and skeleton brothers' house and strode down the path. The voices started becoming much clearer this time; they heard a familiar laugh of NEYHEHEHE! as they eyed each other with a look that said 'That's Papyrus alright' and they smirked in unison.

They came to the spot where the voices were coming from and laid eyes on the two skeletons.

They finally found the brothers they were looking for and saw them in the midst of a battle royal, fiercely lashing it out in a snowball fight. Well, the taller one was anyways.

Poised in his sunset wholly jumper with the words Greatest Brother etched on it, clad in maroon brown pants and smoky grey boots, showered in dazzling orange flames that were covered a little in snow while his crimson scarf fluttered about vividly in the winds like a super hero's cape, the tall skeleton was directly launching a barrage of snowballs with his left hand at his brother from below while he was in mid-air.

"I! CRIIIIMSON THE GREAT WILL DEFEAT YOU HERE AND NOW BLUE WANDERER!" he declared excitedly, brimming with confidence.

The other skeleton that was on the ground had a laidback expression about him.

He had a left eye which bore a blazing stitched scarlet scar that had permanently left that eye half closed and his vision was partially impaired. His tired yellow eyes held a hidden amusement within them while he lazily avoided the attacks that were coming at him with simple but quick sidesteps. Although his eyes often gave him a bit of a problem, he could always sense when an attack was near.

"Gotta hand it to ya Crimson, ice shot" he grinned, showing his razor sharp teeth as he played a long while dodging a few more snow bullets as his silver locket jingled in the cold breeze, scarf wavering. He saw the expression on his brother's face immediately change when he made the pun.

"N-NYOOOOH! I MAY I HAVE MISSED THOSE LAST SHOTS, BUT I'M NOT DONE YET!" he exclaimed throwing another few snowballs again before landing back on the ground for a bit of a pause. The shorter skeleton shrugged and dodged again, taking his chance he struck a blow to the taller skeleton's face with his own snowball, holding in a laugh as he imagined Papyrus scowling at him, and indeed that's exactly what happened.

"H-H-HEY! I TOLD YOU I WASN'T FINISHED WITH MY SPEECH." Papyrus glared, as he held more snowballs in his arms, his bone face streaming a little with sweat.

"Jee Paps seems like you're gettin' a little too hot. Gettin' worn out already?" his grin widened in delight when he saw Papyrus twitching his eye in frustration "Maybe you should cool off a little before you have a serious meltdown." he was minutes away from bursting as the short skeleton held it in even tighter.

"UGH! SANS! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO PLAGUE MY LIFE WITH YOUR INCIDENTAL PUNS?" flames appeared in Papyrus' sockets, he was sick of the puns his brother was pulling to mess with him.

Deciding he was going to end this battle with the greatest victory, he built up a monstrous snowball that was as big as the sun then summoned a bone and swung back charging up for momentum, " THAT'S IT, I. AM. GOING. TO DO IT! WITNESS THE GREATEST SPECIAL ATTACK THAT ALL MONSTER KIND WILL LAY EYES ON! CRIMSON MEATBALL!" the bone shattered upon hitting the mega snowball as the giant sphere flew into the air, heading straight.

Sans just stood there not moving a leg joint. He patiently waited, just watching as the snowball flew over head a few inches away from his skull, imagining this moment going all in slow motion as his eye followed; he spotted Frisk and Flowey in the background... CRASH! The ball had become nothing but a large mountain of mush.

Papyrus stood there with his jaw wide open, shocked at the fact that the special move he worked so hard putting into action had actually missed and his brother was just standing there sniggering away like always!

"OH WELL... I SUPPOSE THAT WAS 'FUN'" he sighed, disappointed at a third loss today.

"Yeah, it honestly was fun" he smiled worriedly, hearing the disappointment in Paps' tone "But uh... don't you think we'd best check on the two invisible spectators that just happened to show up just now?" he winked playfully at his brother, hoping to cheer him up.

"INVISIBLE SPECTATORS!? WHERE?" the taller skeleton quickly turned left and right in hopes of seeing them but couldn't.

The flower and human popped their faces out from under the mound a while later. Flowey spat out the clumps of snow that had went into his gob in revulsion while Frisk gently patted herself down while still lying in the snow, mesmerized by the whole battle.

In that moment Papyrus rushed in utter worry towards the two, frantically asking if they were okay while lending a helping hand to the human who took the skeleton's hand and pulled themselves out of the icy mountain.

"HUMAN! A-ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus asked with concern "I REALLY SHOULD WATCH MY OWN STRENGTH SOMETIMES, I'M REALLY SORRY THAT YOU GOT BLASTED WITH THAT SNOWBALL." he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head with his left arm. Frisk smiled warmly letting him know it was alright "You really did your best out there. Your special move was amazing! I'm sure if you keep on practicing, one day you might just surpass your bro" they giggled making the tall skeleton blush at the praise and embrace the small child.

"THANK YOU FRISK, I THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL PRACTICE UNTIL I CAN BEAT MY BROTHER SOMEDAY" he proudly posed, with that same shining positivity then he remembered he forgot someone "... SPEAKING OF WHICH UM... FLOWEY ARE YOU OKAY..?" he said worrying since the flower hadn't said much, then he felt a sudden chill go down his spine as he saw a huge shadow looming over him and Sans.

"So... you thought that was funny Paps?" the flower's size had grown to about three times taller than him, his eyes burning with a deep intensity of anger but instead of baring his teeth, Flowey had an insane jagged wide gaping smirk and his eyes were glowing with a psychotic aura "NO ONE gets away in snowballing me!" he snarled already seeing the skeleton with the red scarf and orange armour fleeing for his life ahead of him "Hey! Get back here you skinny bones! I'm gonna kill you!" he roared as he gave chase to Papyrus making the extremely terrified skeleton run about in circles.

"AAAAAAAAH! S-SANS! HUMAN! ANYONE! SAAAAVE MEEEEE!" Sans just stood there, not able to hold it in any longer and burst out laughing so hard he felt his ribs might give way. Meanwhile Frisk made an awkward face but smiled anyway. They felt sorry for Papyrus.

After Sans had calmed down from his giggling fit and Flowey had finally dunked Papyrus with a mega snowball of his own, the flower was satisfied, giving a mischievous smirk as he burrowed his way back into Frisk's jacket leaving a dazed Royal Guard to recover on his own. Frisk felt bad and went over to help him despite the flower's protests, it was the least they could do after he helped them. He told them he was fine and that he actually had fun.

They re-grouped and everything was silent for a while before Flowey spoke up "Well... now what do we do?" he asked, wondering.

The others (except for Sans) stood there thinking. Papyrus then checked his watch and saw that it had been two hours since they were playing then gasped.

"OH MY GOSH I HAD SPENT SO MUCH TIME PLAYING AROUND, I FORGOT I HAVE MY TRAINING WITH UNDYNE AT SIX O'CLOCK! IT'S ALREADY FIVE THIRTY. I GUESS I REALLY NEED TO GO." He stated then he gave them a quick group cuddle before setting off, waving the three a hearty farewell and told them to stay safe.

"Well, there he goes" said Sans smiling, Frisk nodded then opened their mouth "Um... so I hope we didn't come at a wrong time or anything" they said.

"Nah, you actually came at the right time. I was just about to ask ya if you guys wanted to come to Grilbs with me. There's... something important I gotta tell ya" said the short skeleton, his right eye flashing blank for a brief second.

"Ugh, do we really have to?" Flowey pouted grumpily "I hate that place"

"Come on, I'm sure there won't be any harm in going" she smiled then... grooooowl there was a bit of a pause "I... could do with something to eat, I'm... a little hungry" Frisk grinned sheepishly.

"Boy, someone sure is starving." He teased "Well great then, it'll be on me. Sorry weed, it's two against one" he chuckled.

"Darn, well I guess we have no other choice" he grumbled as they all moved forward heading to the restaurant.

The place was booming noisily when the three had entered. As Frisk and Flowey passed by each of the tables they saw the guard dogs were playing poker and everyone else seemed to either be chatting or having a drink.

They eventually made it to the long mahogany light brown counter. They saw a coffee dispenser, a milkshake stall as well as ice maker and slushy machine which showed three flavours of apple, blueberry or passion fruit that were displayed behind it as they sat on the leather red circular stools, waiting.

They saw a tall monster clothed in a smart shirt fastened with gold buttons, red tie and a black apron approach them. His fiery flame flickered about him and he was wearing a pair of silver glasses as he was wiping a glass cup with a cloth. Plated on a silver name tag in gold letters was the restaurant owner's name, Grillby.

"Ah just the favourite customers I'd hope to see! It's been a while young Frisk, you look wonderful in that blue cardigan and that coat is very well made too" said the fire monster cheerfully.

"Thank you , dunkle Sans made it for me" the human smiled warmly at Sans.

"Oh? Well that was a rather lovely surprise you pulled for them. Always pulling the new tricks out of your hood eh?" Grillby smirked.

"Awww j-jee it was nothing. I guess I thought it'd be something to keep the kid warm." the skeleton's cheeks went a pale blue at the compliment.

 _dunkle huh, well that's cute_ Flowey thought sarcastically but he remained quiet, not really wanting to talk. He was still in a sour mood about having been dragged here.

"So I take it you all want your usual orders?" he kept his cheerful smile on bringing out a bottle of BBQ sauce for the skeleton, a small carton of chocolate milk and some fries for the flower and a large cool strawberry milkshake decorated with vanilla cream in a tall glass for the child.

After taking their things Sans paid for them and they thanked Grillby before seeing the fire monster disappear into the back room.

A few minutes into their food Sans turned his attention on them "So kid while we're at it, wanna hear a joke?" Frisk nodded their head eagerly "What's round and white, has a long orange pointy nose and branches for arms?"

"Is it... Flowey?" they turned to smirk mischievously at the flower knowing it would set him off. Flowey retaliated grumpily "W-WHAT?! I don't have a pointed orange nose mind you, nor branches for arms!" he heard them laughing.

"Okay I've got one now. What's pale, wears a jacket has a nose shaped like a horse's snout and wears a permanent shark grin?" the human asked,

"Oh that one's easy. It's you Frisk" the flower retorted still electing giggles from them, he rolled his eyes but made a secret smile quietly whispering idiots/i as he started to slowly feel better about being here.

It carried on for a while as they enjoyed making jokes laughing at and with one another.

SHHHZZZT! ... The TV mysteriously turned on, channelling monster news. The news reporter was a female unicorn wearing a violet blouse and dark orange long skirt with white flowers over it while her smooth blond hair curled a little in between her black horn. She was speaking on the microphone broadcasting about the case of the girl who went missing from ' lab a few nights ago and about how her pet was found and was now hospitalized and is under care.

Sans froze at the name of 'Aurora Nebulem'. The atmosphere around them had become quiet all of a sudden; Flowey and Frisk sat there looking surprised, never seeing him have such a reaction before ... except for that one time which they didn't want to remember. Worried the human decided to question him on something "Hey... Sans... d-did you know her well?" she asked nervously.

"Nah... I didn't know her all that much. But... she was a good kid, just like you. She always helped everyone whenever they needed somethin'. Alphys talked fondly of her all the time; loved her like she was her own daughter. That's how close they were." His eyes returned to normal again but he still showed a great amount of worry "Listen Frisk... about the 'important' thing I was gonna tell you about earlier. I have a hunch that the way that girl disappeared wasn't normal; I think it has something... something to do with your last reset" he eyed them with a serious face.

"Sa-Sans... am... am I in trouble?" they asked guiltily, feeling like they was responsible for everything, they're eyes downcast. The skeleton shook his head and reassured them that everything was going to be okay. The child sighed, feeling a little better.

"Well, then where do we go from here smiley?" Flowey stared up at him, his face grim.

"Waterfall" is all the skeleton uttered. Knots churned in the flower's stomach as he worriedly eyed his human friend; he didn't like where this was going, he had a bad feeling about it.


	3. Chapter 2- The mystery of Waterfall

It had been about forty-five minutes since their hike out of town. The weather was still quite chilly with a wild wind that made Flowey shiver and huddle deeper into Frisk's clothing.

The trio silently passed by the jagged rocky waterfalls, along the wide bridges, through a field of echo flowers and finally to another open path again.

Frisk always admired the serenity of calm gushing streams that frequently sailed down the rocky silver cliffs like a giant fountain, but what they thought really gave Waterfall its beauty was the field of echo flowers.

"Ugh how much further do we have to go? I feel like I'm about to freeze to death here" complained the flower

" **Well I dunno about you weed, but I'm** ** _releafed_** **we can wear coats.** " Sans grinned widely seeing Flowey doing the natural roll of his eyes at the joke like always.

"I'm sure it isn't too far... maybe" answered Frisk, unsure of themselves. They somehow felt they were getting that much closer to their destination.

The human sighed in weariness as they continued their long walk. They were becoming tired as well now. Their legs had begun to ache, feeling as though they were going to crumple and dissipate any moment now, they were becoming slightly out of breath.

Frisk never did go out much anymore these days, preferring to either read a mix of entertaining adventure and fantasy fairytale stories or draw in their art book at the house; They knew they needed the exercise every now and then but they really wanted to stop for a bit.

"U-um Sans?" they asked a little hesitantly almost afraid to ask, considering how much complaining the flower had done throughout their walk already.

" **Yeah, what is it kid?** " the skeleton turned to face them noticing they seemed a little red in the face and sweating; he assumed it was because of the heat the walk had given.

"Mind if we could take a little rest? I'm getting a bit tired" they motioned with a finger pointing to their feet.

" **Sure we can. It ain't long now before we reach the place anyways** " he said joining in with her as they all sat down on the cobalt rock bed floor.

They relaxed enjoying the quiet, still and tranquil atmosphere. The cool sapphire lights twinkling brightly from the ocean walls bounced off the surface of lake which softly illuminated the surrounding landscape in a radiant, midnight aura creating a wispy mist that seemed to make the gushing falls sparkle beautifully and the lake refract like a glass mirror making it seem like an illustration that flourished out of a fairy tale wonderland. It even gave the rocks beside them an electric blue glow which made them appear like gemstones that glistened in this peaceful scene.

Seeing all this happen before his eyes made Flowey forget about the argument they had earlier. About why they couldn't rest up a while ago and because Sans told him off that he complained too much already. He brushed the negative feelings away, allowing himself to wonder in awe about the real beauty of Waterfall.

 _I understand it now. Why Waterfall is so... beautiful. Everything is so calm and still... I feel... warm._ the flower thought to himself quietly as he made himself comfortable, closing his eyes for the moment not feeling that he was settled up against something soft.

Sans saw the flower's peaceful expression as he looked down at him " **Heh, enjoying yourself weed?** " he grinned a relaxed smile.

"Yeah, now I know why they call this spot 'the mystery of Waterfall'... It really is a mystery... and a really amazing one too." Flowey paused for a while then stared up at the skeleton "Wait... I was just in Frisk's jacket just now, how did I end up getting in to yours?" Sans just shrugged casually.

The flower thought it was a little strange but shrugged then relaxed into the skeleton again. He suddenly sighed, his expression turning a bit glum as the guilt from before resurfaced, his face transforming into that of a familiar kid goat "Well... I wanna say I'm sorry."

" **For what, weed?** " Sans eyed him "Complaining?" he paused, pretending to let the flower's apology sink in for a bit before giving an answer " **...Nah... I ain't gonna forgive ya. Made too much noise and now it's too late,** " he tried keeping a straight face as he watched flower's guilty expression soon turn into an un-amused stare. As his ex-nemesis, he was used to the grumpy kind of stares the flower gave him. Not being able to hold it in he laughed.

" **Okay calm down weed, I forgave you for that a while ago. It's no biggie.** " he grinned.

He told the flower to cheer up and not to feel bad about it which made Flowey smile again. Frisk who was sitting beside them the whole time just smiled at the two bonding friends, watching them quietly.

 _Clink... tap tap..._ his petals perked up as though he was listening out for something.

 _Crink...Cruuuk!_ A deep feeling of anxiousness arose in his heart. He heard the noise growing louder... LOUDER! He knew something was very wrong.

"S-smiley...SMILEY WAKE UP!" the flower yelled trying to shake him frantically.

Frisk joined in too, shaking him as well "Flowey do you hear that?!" they said as the rumbling from above was drawing ever nearer.

You think I'd be trying to wake him for any other reason? Of course I hear it!" he retorted.

" **Zzz... W-wh-whut..? Just five more minzzzzz...!** " Sans dozily half opened his eyes, tossing his head back slightly and adjusting his body to make himself more comfortable.

"S-Sans please! There's no time! We're going to be crushed by a-" Flowey cut Frisk off in mid sentence as he gave the skeleton a big hard slap across his skull which made him finally wake up and rub his head groggily, blinking in surprise from the rude awakening

" **Hey! w-what the heck was-!** " he growled moodily but was cut off by him.

"WE'RE GONNA BE CRUSHED BY A ROCKSLIDE IDIOT! MOVE IT!" the flower barred his fangs angrily, instantly grabbing the two with his vine arms. He was planning to toss them ahead in case he didn't make it; but the skeleton acted a lot faster.

" **Weed, Frisk hold on to me quick!** " he ordered. The two did just as he asked. He looked up seeing that the rocks were getting close, falling at lightning speed toward them!

"Aaaaaaah!" the flower and human screamed in unison as the meteor shower of boulders were right above their heads!

 _An aqua flash..._

 _... Everything went a blank..._

...The world was whirling about him for a moment. Then... he heard a familiar whisper faintly calling out to him ... **_Asriel... Promise me, you'll never give up._**

He couldn't tell if he was dreaming... but he thought the voice he heard... was Chara's...

Suddenly he opened his eyes then he heard Frisk shouting his name as he was laying in the skeleton's arms who was looking at him concerned. Flowey noticed that they were now safely on the other side away from the rockslide... they survived. He sighed relieved.

"Flowey! Thank goodness you're okay!" they cried in relief, glad to see that the flower wasn't injured or worse. He only sustained a bit of scratches on his face and body.

For a moment, Flowey thought he glimpsed a pair of determination red eyes in the shadows above the small cliff from where the rocks descended... but when he rubbed his eyes with his leafy vines and lowered them again the shadow... was nowhere to be seen.

 _Must've been my imagination..._ he thought to himself.

Upon the last few strides, the trio had come to a tall silver metallic door. The lonely corridor that split right in between a large crevice seemed abandoned. It was very silent... and murky too.

Flowey didn't know what it was that had made him feel a sense of unease, but he couldn't shake the worrying thought in his mind that what they would discover behind the ancient door would possibly lead them to danger. It was just a possibility, but he knew that they had to find out what was going on regardless.

Slowly... the door was unlocked. A little fear had wormed its way into the child's spirit making them shudder as they stared into the emptiness ahead. They were scared of what they might find, but knowing they had their friends with them made them feel safe as they walked in, letting the void swallow them.

 _Knowing that you have faith in your companions fills you with_ _ **DETERMINATION**_ _._

*************************************

The room flickered dimly as the lights above the ceiling blinked sleepily awake. Old crumpled papers were strewn and scattered everywhere over a large desk and some were on the floor. Amongst the dusty desk was one cabinet tower with four draws. They could also see some sample discs, a microscope and an empty glass beaker.

The trio surveyed their surroundings for a few minutes before splitting off and started to search around different sections of the room.

 _Wow... Alphys sure had her work cut out for her. I know my room's bad enough but god this is dusty_ Flowey thought to himself as he pried open one of the draws from the tower cabinet, getting hit in the face with a sandy cloud that made him cough and Frisk sneeze.

Meanwhile, the skeleton examined the desk. He scanned the papers that were on the table but only found that they were old research news from when the professor was studying about plants and soul extraction.

" **Something tells me she really loved her plants.** " Sans eyed the flower and Flowey could feel his sharp grin and teasing eyes at the back of his mind, knowing that the skeleton was saying that to get on his nerves as he growled in annoyance. He heard a chuckle.

As they continued their exploration for a while, they persisted with the search through each draw finding various files; some that were even documented around the Core and how its system worked.

"Isn't there anything here that's actually useful? We've been searching for hours now" Flowey grumbled.

" **Tch, would ya quit bickerin'? Maybe ya jus' haven't looked underneath your...** ** _'roots'_** **hard enough** " the skeleton sniggered.

Flowey just glared at him.

Frisk pondered over the areas that haven't been searched yet going over them all. They suddenly remembered the last draw at the very bottom that stated a 'no entry' sign, but felt they shouldn't go into it. "Hey guys, I found a last draw here but it says 'no entry'. You... think we should? I feel kind of wrong about it."

The flower rolled his eyes at Frisk's worry "You dramatise about everything, Frisk. Of course we should go in. Who cares if it says 'no entry', it might just lead us to clues" dipping a vine on to the handle, the flower yanked the last draw open with a forceful pull, revealing the grand treasures that had awaited them inside.

Piling all the old files, the skeleton put them aside on the floor beside the cabinet with an unoccupied arm and spread out the new files they just obtained onto the desk with his other.

As they looked, they seemed to notice some photos of the Core.

"Hey wow, are these photos of Core?" the child eyed them curiously, noticing how the structure of the area slowly transformed in each photo into the system it was now. 'This must be from the time when Core was still being built' they thought to themselves.

"Seems like it. And look, there's Alphys. But... who's the other guy?" the flower pointed to a very tall skeleton in the fourth picture that was dated back in 2007 when both him and the doctor were in an area that appeared all dark with decayed ancient vines and rubble.

The figure seemed to have some distinct features about him; he had a crack forming from above his right eye and also one on the bottom of his left. He was draped in a very long dark mystic purple suit which flowed about him like the darkness of the night and wrapped in a misty grey cotton scarf while he held a stack of papers in his skeletal hands, the expression on his face portrayed a serious and focused being in concentration. He also from what they saw... had pumpkin orange eyes much like their skeleton friend but was wearing a glass monocle over his right eye.

"Hmmm... I don't really know. But Alphys must have known him well" Frisk responded. For some strange reason they felt that Sans strongly knew something about him, and although the nagging feeling kept on playing in their mind, as much as they wanted to keep quiet about it they really felt they had to ask.

Turning their attention towards him, they were going to ask but felt... a change in atmosphere...

 _Something's not right..._ they said to themselves feeling the tension twist a knot of dread in their chest.

They saw... that his eyes had gone void. His grin had faltered... he seemed really tense... almost like a robot as he automatically placed down the documented files he was just reading back on the desk.

The silence worried them and they turned around to where he was staring...

"Hey what's going-" Flowey trailed off as he saw what everyone was in shock over. A horrible chill suddenly coursed throughout his in entire body as he began to shake with fear.

 _There, lying in the shadows... in a murky corner of the room... was a body in a pool of crimson liquid..._

"T-t-that's... that's blood!" the flower froze in horror. Frisk had their hands cupped over their mouth; their eyes were reduced to the size of apple seeds as they held their breath, struggling to keep themselves from screaming in terror. They all stared at the horrific scene, looking over at the dead monster that was lifeless as a doll.

The skeleton recognised who it was; the gold and brown striped shirt... the little dragging orange tail... the body that had no arms and... the scales at the back of the little creature's head...

 _Kid... w-why... WHY?!_ Sans agonizingly yelled mentally, clenching his fists tightly. He unleashed a large bone that impacted against the wall which caused a huge dent and a crack before he fell to his knees. Cold tears spilled down his face and stung his hollow cheeks as he pulled the body of the monster child into his arms, not caring that the blood stained his clothes.

The human was shaking from the shock of seeing the motionless body... tears rolling down their tanned face. Slowly, Frisk and the flower moved towards of what was left of one of their dearest friends.

"N-n-no... no..." they whispered "Monster Kid... H-how c-c-could anyone...have-" they sobbed, too emotionally grieved to finish. He was one of their closest friends; they always felt as though they grew up with him in the same family since they were small. To them he was their little brother; they always did almost everything together and would often go around to each other's homes to play the latest level of Squadron Knights on the GameCube.

A memory flashed in their mind about how they were having a little argument about whose turn it was to fight the large aquadrone, a robot dragon fish they had been stuck fighting in an underwater carter level for two whole weeks. On the third week that Saturday they ended up accidentally unleashing their team attack and they won. ... they remembered fondly how they ended up laughing about it later and that made them smile a little, before returning to their large sad frown... and they felt more tears roll down their face again _And now he's gone...forever..._ they sniffled.

Flowey was the one to feel the most guilt at this point. He never got along with the little dinosaur; he was always driven mad by Kid's persistent questions and very talkative and bubbly excitable nature ... and now... now... he was gone from this world. He just sat there silently, unable to say anything else.

The atmosphere's silence enveloped the entire room. The sorrow loitered over their minds like a foggy pitch-black haze that throbbed as if some creature was crushing them underneath the heel of their boot. Their hearts weighed heavily, but even though he knew that now was not the right time to mourn over the death of one of their closest friends and that they still had job to finish here; the skeleton felt he was paralyzed to that spot.

 _Whoever did this crap... they're gonna pay. And I'll make em pay!_ the thought viciously rang in his skull.

He sat there for a moment longer, his eyes still void and empty...

The human approached him, kneeling down they placed a comforting hand on their dunkle's shoulder. they knew there wasn't much that they could do to sooth his pain, but they knew that they had to stay strong, as they looked at the flower who nodded to them.

"Dunkle Sans... it's going to be okay. W-we'll find out who did this." Frisk attempted to comfort their dad/uncle "M-maybe if we look around a while longer we might be able-" Sans raised a mitten hand toward their mouth, signalling for them to be silent. The skeleton eyed the direction on the right which led to the entrance of the room.

 _He could feel something..._

 _A sinister icy wind had suddenly wound its way into the room..._

Frisk felt the flower's body tense from within their coat as he risen into a defensive position. The child made sure they always had their trusty wooden bat with them in case something like this were to happen.

"We better be careful. Looks like we've got some company" Flowey growled, his jagged fangs forming into a snarl.

" **Ya mean some** ** _un-eggxpected_** **company** " Sans tried to grin through his pained expression.

"Are you for real? ... How can you JOKE at a time like this Smiley?! Now is not the time!" Flowey growled in annoyance, but the skeleton only shrugged, grinning a little wider.

 _... Shatter! The lights had completely gone out, plunging the whole room into darkness._

A shadow loomed out from the darkness a little as oval blood eyes peered from behind the small child.

Frisk began to shudder. An uneasy feeling of fear crept over their whole body as they felt two hands snaking over their shoulders which they felt were human; a wide psychotic smile was painted on the face of their opponent as they leaned their face close to theirs. Frisk could feel their breath down their neck and ear as they heard them whisper " _Guess who?~_ " they swung around in attempt to strike, and at the same time Flowey shot a few petals to hit them with but they only heard an ominous taunting laughter that echoed across the entire room. They missed their shots.

Mustering up the courage they were determined to not let whoever this person was get the better of them "HEY! Whoever you are, c-come out right now! It's three against one!" yelled Frisk

Silence... for the moment and then... they re-appeared again directly just a few steps away from them. Their creepy taunting smile that flashed in the darkness of the hallway never left Frisk's mind. Their chocolate brown short shoulder length silky hair that was cut into a bob and was lined with a smooth straight trim at the bottom hung just a few inches below their neck. Their pale skin was darkened by the shadows. Their dark velvet green sweater that had a shaded yellow stripe that ran across in a vertical path was stained with something... something that looked like a grey powder... it was... dust Frisk realised. The figure was also dressed in maroon boots over their black shorts... and they never forgot to note those terrifying oval dark blood eyes that were laughing at them because they were scared.

But... instead of the usual gentleness and compassion they always knew the figure had; these eyes were now filled with the lust for violence. Something that was glinting in a reflected part of the shadows had also caught their attention... they squinted to get a better look. Held tightly in the figure's left hand... they gasped in horror... _it was a dagger_ trickling down with blood.

 _It couldn't be...no... No!_ as they came to the realisation of who it was they just tried to defend defend themselves against. The utter shock surprise had left them confused as the words fumbled out of their mouth in a nervous stammer as if they had stumbled on a second dead body.

"C-C-Chara... i-is-is that really you...?" Frisk meekly called out.

The figure giggled again, and it sent shivers down all their spines.

Oh how you should have seen his _poor little face_ ," their twisted smile widened in pleasure "He was so... defenseless, so innocently sweet. Yet... he didn't realise-'their expression softened to a pretend sad melting face "that his _trusting nature_ was going to be his own down fall." they declared, their sad face transforming into a malicious sneer "You should have heard the way he was scrambling around, looking for anyway of escape... the way he cried out in **fear** 'Mommy, daddy, anyone. HELP ME!' ... but **nobody came.** Such a sad, sad tragic tale... And in the end, I enjoyed every minute of his suffering!" they cackled evily.

The room's atmosphere had suddenly grown silently intense. Flowey watched Sans' eyes grow extremely dark, a burning blue aura was pouring out of his right socket as the skeleton was staring directly at Chara with a flaming hate. He couldn't stand it anymore; the skeleton had finally had enough.

" **Yo-you...little... YOU LITTTLE BRAT!** " he roared summoning five gigantic reptilian skull dragon heads that left them surrounded with no possible escape. The gaster blasters launched their attack all at once, erupting in a huge fiery explosion. Frisk stared at him in horror; they couldn't believe he just did that. But when the grey cloud of smoke disappeared, the tall human just stood there as if nothing even happened as they blew the rest of the smoke a way with an effortless wave of their blade. They saw the angry un-amused expression on the skeleton's face, his aura burning more intensely now as he glowered angrily, and they savoured it by smiling wickedly.

Although he kept quiet, Flowey was still on guard, knowing that things were about to get even more ugly.

"Awww, don't look so _rattled_ comedian. We've done this all before you know" Chara smirked waving their dagger playfully in the air, their glittering demonic red eyes shining with a twisted dark thrill to them. "You know as well as I that there's always been a darker side to you; a part of you that enjoys it when you're _tearing your enemies apart_ , no?" their smirk never left their face as they saw Sans re-coiling in disbelief, attempting to keep a strong upfront for his friends.

" **N-no...no, you're wrong! I'm doing this to protect the kid... to protect the kid from you!** " he bellowed.

"Hmmm, I see. Then why don't we have a little wager about how far you're willing to go," Raising their equipped arm in the air, a burning garnet glow enveloped the blade as they swung down pretending to aim the energy beam at him "considering you couldn't even _save him._ And I'm not talking about the little dinosaur, _you know who I mean._ " they taunted seeing his cold, blank eyes staring them dead in the face as he was getting ready to charge another vicious attack. Just at the last moment, they changed its course, aiming it straight for Frisk and Flowey as the large red wave flew toward them at an accelerating speed.

Flowey knew he had to act fast. Quickly raising a barrier of sturdy vines just in time before they were hit, the wave collided with the wall, exploding right at that very moment.

" **Oh no, weed! kid!** " he shouted and turned to face their side worriedly as he saw the thick smoke.

Chara's smile widened in wicked delight, but faltered a little when the smoke cleared, seeing that they were unscathed. Sans sighed relieved when Flowey looked at the skeleton and gave a leafs up letting him know that they were both alright.

"Hmph, luckily for you both that attack was a blunt one. But now, it's time for some real "fun" they grinned demonically.

Before they could launch another attack they felt a gaster blaster charge from behind them as they nimbly dodged just at the last moment of the fire and re-appeared from behind the skeleton attempting to strike him swiftly with the swing of their blade. He defended immediately with a skull shield that protected him from the blow. Flowey immediately joined in with his aid shooting a barrage of white pellets at the attacker while Frisk moved along with the flower, not willing to attack unless they had to defend again.

Chara pranced back a little, defending themselves against the pellets with a magic shield as they swung a few times more afterwards, unleashing fast waves that aimed for all three of them.

Sans erected another skull shield blocking off the attacks and Flowey fired off another round of bullets.

The tall human easily dodged again re-appearing from behind Frisk this time and managed to strike a blow to the flower as he yelled in pain, feeling his skin tear apart as he plummeted to the ground with a crash!

"Flowey!" the tanned human turned to the side for the moment but then felt something in the air striking at them which made them instinctively defend with their wooden bat. Their weapon collided with the steel of the dagger, they felt the shudder of fear take over them again as they were now face to face with the monster, their smirking twisted face and glimmering red eyes staring at them playfully but callously as Frisk was pushed back.

"Tsk tsk, you really shouldn't be worrying about him" they wagged a finger "The only one you really should be worried about is yourself Frisky" Chara charged forward feigning a forward lunge as they heard Frisk scream in terror, shaking.

"Ahaha! I knew you never had it in you; always afraid, even when it comes to protecting those who are dearest to you!" their voice echoed tauntingly about the room... then from above they descended like an eagle that was ready to capture its prey, a crazy wild expression displayed on their monstrous face, as they laughed manically and Frisk saw it, too terrified to move.

 _Then... buzzing in the back of her mind, they heard something echoing their name "Frisk, my child do not waver in making a fast decision when it truly counts. However, be wise in making the right choice"_

They snapped back into reality as they heard a shout and realised it was Flowey yelling "Frisk you idiot, MOVE!" just at that moment before the attack got them, they felt a tremendous wave of hot air as a blue beam shot the other tall human right into a wall from across them and they heard a loud THUD.

" **Certainly was a close one huh? We really aughta make a** ** _tuToriel_** **for you sometime about how to really fight when it's the right time to do so** " the skeleton approached with an injured flower in his arms.

Frisk couldn't help but widen in a smile at the jokes and Sans chuckled while Flowey just stayed quiet, but they knew it still wasn't over as they saw Chara stagger up, blood dripping from the corner of their mouth and a large burn mark was on their four head as their clothes were torn from the knees and arms. A trail of blood was also dripping from arms and legs a bit too.

The twisted, dark smirk played on their face again as they giggled ominously once more, their hair covering their face even though they hurt with pain "Hee hee... you're all fools... if you believe you'll be safe. **No.** This is just the beginning of your worst _**fears.**_ Your impending doom is near, and soon everyone in this underground... _**will perish**_ " they stared at everyone with that crazy look in their burning, demonic ruby eyes. Their mouth widened into a creepy and dislodged gaped smile... it gave them all chills, especially Frisk.

"Frisky... this isn't the last you've seen of me. We certainly shall meet again" was the last phrase their sibling uttered before vanishing under a cloak of darkness.

Everything was silent for a long while after that. Sans tenderly held Flowey close to him, mumbling if he was alright and the flower kept replying he was going to be fine.

Frisk was relieved to see that Flowey was okay, but they all knew he needed to get fixed up at the medical centre soon so the wound could be mended.

Though the ordeal was very terrifying, and they shook with fear, Frisk couldn't help wondering why their older sibling wasn't at their parents like they said and why they attacked them out of the blue like. But most importantly, why had they murdered Monster Kid? They loved him as much as big sibling would and it puzzled them extremely hard. And what was all this about an impending doom being so close? Something was very wrong... very wrong indeed.

Those eyes... the way they appeared were very strange as if... as if their sibling had been possessed. Those horrible eyes... they weren't Chara's... they weren't sure who's they were, but they knew that in some point of this journey they was going to find out because everything that had happened today... truly was a mystery. But they was determined that they were going to save their partner, even if it had to come... to _that._

" **Kid, come on...** " Sans beckoned her "W-we'll get weed to the medics and... then take MK's body back to Snowdin and... break the news to his parents" he said sorrowfully as they slowly departed, marching back to their home.


	4. Chapter 3- The Nightmare

The cold wind howled grievously over the freezing town. The storm drizzle of rain fell rhythmically, pelting the denizens below as well as the surrounding area, drenching them in its chilling tears as if it were crying out for the lost and dead.

It was a very sad day for the monsters, especially for the family of Monster Kid. He was the only child they had; raised with the love and care that any good family would have given for their offspring. He was their golden egg, the sunshine that brightened their everyday life. He was the hope for the future generation of monsters... it left a large hole in their hearts to know that their son wasn't here anymore.

After the burial was done, a ten minute prayer of silence was chanted. Mostly all the monsters had left the cemetery after that. However, Frisk, Sans and Flowey had decided to stay a little longer.

They all felt some responsibility for not being able to save MK as they stared at the gravestone shrouded in an array of golden flowers and some echo flowers while the monument was imprinted with his name:

 _Here lies Monster Kid; a child beloved to all as the little prince of Snowdin. May he R.I.P_

A long while of silence followed, enveloping their minds like the grey clouds that hung above them in the sky as the storm continued to pour down.

"Still... I... can't believe it. Just last week, we were having a good time..." they sighed sadly.

Another moment's silence was over them before the flower spoke to break it.

"... Well it's not gonna do us any good if we just stay here all day. All we can hope for now... is that his SOUL rests in peace" murmured Flowey with a sigh as well.

" **You're right weed...** " the skeleton replied, sadness present in his tone. He was just as upset as everyone else.

" **Oh that reminds me... the injury you have. How's it holding up?** " he asked with a strained grin as he was trying to lighten up the mood a little.

"It's... a little better I guess. Nurse says I gotta stay in bed for quite a few days from now. So while I rest up, I really hope... you two will be alright" he said, letting the worry show in his voice.

" **... I'm sure we'll be okay,** " the skeleton smiled a little white lie, slowly eyeing Frisk who was still in a slump mood and silent.

Although it all seemed bleak now, he only hoped things would really get better.

Over the next few days Frisk and Sans had made a slow but regular routine of going to Grillbys for a meal every lunch time. Then the skeleton would coach the human child on evading his attacks as a little training session.

It wasn't as easy as they thought it would be. In fact it was quite difficult for them to get the hang of it at first, so the skeleton went easy on them. He understood their demotivated mood which still lingered. He understood that getting over the little dinosaur's passing was going to take... a lot of time.

 _Frisk... I only hope you'll feel better_ he sighed solemnly, noticing their miserable expression that day as they were held in his embrace while the skeleton mumbled soothing words to comfort them.

He didn't blame the kid for how they were feeling. It had been quite rough on them for the past weeks after all, with the fact that they almost had another death. And it wasn't the first time due to their history.

They'd been through a lot. Although it sometimes really scared them because they was afraid of being hurt again. Occasionally a memory would resurface from the depths of their mind when they were in a lot of pain from the traumatic times of their journey in the Underground while they and the spectre where at Waterfall.

Chara had encouraged them that day to be strong. They could still vividly remember the words as the ghost held the child close to them, doing their best to comfort the small quivering and sobbing form that was in tears:

 _"_ _Frisk... we've been through a lot together. We've been through so much pain. Although no one will ever understand our suffering...it's better to do the right thing and have_ _ **mercy**_ _on them. It's going to be okay, Fisky-pie. We have each other, and we'll get through this, together."_

... Normally the remembrance of those words would have calmed the child down, but after what happened that day... it was just another horrible memory.

It frightened them to think that someone else had control over their partner's being. And it terrified them to imagine them harming another monster now that Chara was corporeal.

-

Through the third day that week they felt a little better in their moods. Their eagerness for training had seeped in more than usual and their agility and stamina had begun to improve over time.

They ducked under a flurry of white bones just in nick of time that coursed from behind. They then charged forward in attempt to whack him with their bat.

"Yaaaaaaaaah!" the child sounded their battle cry, turning their body in momentum as they prepared to swing... Bonk! They felt it hit. Through their current excitement they smiled happily to themselves, feeling the joy dancing in their heart.

For the first time in a while... they actually felt genuinely happy, and it felt really good as they swam in their happiness for a bit, not realising that the noise they heard... was actually them being stopped.

A weight began to shift.

Their body felt a heavy drop for the moment as they saw their SOUL in blue then, they felt they were being lifted off the ground. Rising higher and higher, they started to feel the freezing cold temperatures as they were drenched in the ice cold rain and were halted just a few meters away from him in mid-air.

Their oak orbs widened in sudden surprise as they snapped back into their current surroundings. Their hair was wet as water trickled down their face drenching their clothes. They shivered, but felt light as a feather. They saw him grinning under the shade of the grey shadows, then his soul filled sockets lit up, warmly glowing in amusement at their reaction as he gazed up at his little kid.

" **You having a joy ride up there kiddo?** " his mocking eyes shimmering with laughter.

"U-uh... it-it's a tad **'** **chilli'** up here. And wet too. T-too bad it's not s-s-spicy enough" they smiled hearing him laugh at their pun.

They felt a large shadow loom over them as something brushed up from behind them. They were still held airborne by the skeleton's gravity hold. Their body twisted around as they came face to face with a skeleton floating dragon head. Its eyes mischievously staring at her; they thought it looked a bit crazy.

"H-hi?" they greeted the gaster blaster with a nervous gulp.

 _...Clunk!_

 _It opened its mouth..._

The child began to shudder in sudden panic. _Oh no... Nonononono! What am I gonna to do? I-I can't move!_

They felt it surging power, they felt powerless... they realised... they couldn't do anything.

Another memory flashed in their head at that point. ... And it was one they wished they had forgotten completely. They didn't want to remember the horrible and gruesome nightmare...

 _ **KiLl HiM! KiLl HiM NoW!**_

 _N-no...no I won't!_

 _ **YoU ArE sO PaThEtIc! wE'Ve AlReAdY GoTtEn ThIs ClOsE. WhY ArE YoU sO WeAk? I ThOuGhT YoU WaNtEd tO bE StRoNg, PaRtNeR.**_

 _I... I never wanted a-any of this! L-leave me alone!_

 ** _YoU CrYbAbY. YoU'Ll NeVeR ChAnGe... BeCaUsE iN tHe eNd, YoU'Ll AlWaYs bE tHe WeAkEr HaLf._**

 ** _... Sorry kiddo, it's Game Over._**

The mocking tone and cruel laughter of that dark memory replayed in their mind several times as they closed their eyes, praying in fear. They felt warm tears threatening to spill as they trembled, whimpering, shutting their eyes tight, and hoping desperately that it wouldn't fire...

Suddenly they was bought back to ground level as the Gaster Blaster vanished.

They blinked sniffling; their tanned cheeks wet as they felt a bone finger gently lift their chin. The skeleton stared at they with a look of concern and guilt written on his face as he held them close. They'd realised... that Sans knew they were crying.

" **Kid... I-** "they shook their head, a warm smile playing on the child's face as they rubbed their eyes.

" **No... It's not okay. I know I hurt you before... I just wanna be able to do what I can to make it right again,** " he caressed them, letting his emotions show, tears forming in his eyes. Usually he was a guy who had his sadness hidden, but he wanted the child to know he deeply cared for them. " **I won't harm you again. I promise I'll take care of you.** " he said kissing the temple of the small form's head.

"Now you know you shouldn't be talking like that dunkle. I don't like it when you do," the child frowned, wagging a tiny finger disapprovingly, but appreciating the comfort he was giving them.

" **H-heh... you...you're right. I just... I just wanna make you happy, that's all.** " he rubbed his sockets chuckling, the sadness and guilt still aching in his SOUL.

"Don't be a numbskull, you always make me happy. ...You silly bonehead" their frown soon turned into a grin, hearing more chortles of laughter from the skeleton as he started to feel better. He pulled them gravitationally toward him, picked them up into a one arm bear hug while with the other, playfully ruffled the child's hair.

"H-hey! I-I'm not a little kid anymore!" they pouted grumpily, arms folded while in his arms.

" **Says the little squirt who's the size of a baby toadstool. You're only eleven years old. You've barely reached passed my skull** " his grin widening into a smirk.

"Sh-shutup dunkle!" they gave him a moody stare, not happy about him teasing them as they heard him laughing, then they were suddenly turned on their back as they felt the bone fingers wriggle their way lightly on their tummy like a feather and soon they began erupting with squeals of delight and giggles. He thought it was adorable. They sounded like a baby piglet when it's happy.

" **Heh you sound like a little piglet who's happy at getting a tummy rub,** " he teased, earning a little glare as the child tried to helplessly keep a straight face.

"Well you laugh like a giant elephant!" they exclaimed.

They stared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds before cracking into more laughter.

After a while, his smile faded a little as the laughing subsided. His eyes became serious and they felt it as they were slowly set back down onto the damp snowy floor.

" **... but on a serious note, you really aughta learn how to counter attack better. What if you find yourself in a jam like what happened now? What are ya gonna do? ... What if... what if I'm not here to protect you when you really need it?** "

They were silent for a long while, not knowing what to say. After all, how could they make up their mind? They didn't really know how to fight. After all they were just a kid, a child who was only eleven years old. ... An idea suddenly flashed in their mind... hesitantly, they spoke their idea.

"R-r-reset...? ahahah..." they nervously grinned, expecting him to be angry with them but they saw he had a patient expression.

" **...Don't forget that was the reason why we're speculating this whole thing's happened in the first place,** " he stated bluntly as he felt them flinch " **In fact... there's somethin' you autgha know. Why don't we sit down at that bench over there.** " he pointed in the said direction.

They quietly walked to it and he calmly gestured for the young child to sit beside him. As they did so placing their bat beside them, they gulped nervously trying not to let the bad feelings they felt play with their mind as they made eye contact and concentrated on their dunkle.

He adjusted himself properly, lying back against the green bench to become more comfortable before he finally spoke.

" **During our search that time at the lab... the information I read from those documents provided something of into-rest** " he said

"And what d-did you find out?" they asked, scared of what they were about to hear.

" **... That messing around with the timelines could cause** ** _things_** **... things to appear that aren't meant to be there. And if you reset again, it might only get worse** " he said, trying to explain it to them in the simplest way.

" **Meaning if you... if you end up going back in time to a place you're not supposed to be... bad things that you don't want to happen, most likely will** " he gave them a stern look, an icy pupil fixed firmly into the nervous oak brown orbs.

The feeling of anxiety washed over them SOUL as they felt the ruby red heart that pounded and glowed brightly off the surface of their coat dim with negativity. They knew that he was going to ask something big from them... and they didn't know if they were ready to accept that decision yet.

Just as he was about to tell them, he heard something...

 _Something was buzzing, vibrating in his jacket pocket._

He slowly drew it out. It was his cell phone; his favourite tune was playing as it rang. He saw that the call was coming from Papyrus. He thought about not answering it for a split second because he believed it might be another one of his brother's daily ramblings about a new puzzle. Since he was discussing more important matters right now, he was about to place the phone back into his pocket- then he stopped.

 _He felt his heartbeat quickening..._

 _Anxiousness gripped him like a snake wrapping tightly around its victim..._

 _Something at the back of his skull throbbed. It was... his consciousness... echoing, yelling at him!_

He knew it was a sign that he should pick it up, so he wasn't going to ignore it. He slowly put the cell phone to his non-existent left ear.

" **Hello, Sans here,** " he answered immediately, hearing the taller skeleton's voice. His brother sounded... in distress and panic as he spoke.

" **W-w-what!? The centre was attacked!?** " he exclaimed, shocked at hearing the news.

" **What!? Hello!?** " he heard the signal becoming disrupted on the other end. He could only hear the words of _help, black shadows, danger, and... Flowey._

"P-paps! Papyrus! I can't hear you! You're-"

 _Beeeeeeep..._

The line went dead.

Frisk watched Sans' expression as he turned to them. That look was the look of complete dread and the kid knew something bad had happened.

Wasting no more time the two nodded as they were mounted onto his back. They and the skeleton hurried on, taking one of his usual shortcuts.

It wasn't long before they reached the centre. On the outside, everything seemed the same. The snow mounds where piled high and a grey-ish oblong building with a red cross towered above them like a large stone statute. It gave Frisk the chills.

But what awaited them inside made the little human child feel more afraid, conjuring up with frightening thoughts in their mind as they latched on to the skeleton even tighter, their small hands firmly gripping his neck as they whimpered, burying their face into the hardness of his skull as they felt the coolness of it against their cheek as the wind howled aggressively, pelting their hair with more freezing rain drops that were icy cold.

"S-sans...I-I'm scared" they exclaimed whimpering and trembling.

" **Hey... don't worry, alright? Nothing bad is gonna happen. I'm gonna protect you this time... I promise.** " He reassured them.

They quietly made their way into the building as the dark corridors glowed with an unnerving light.

Sans' footsteps echoed as they sped ahead. It was a race against time as his legs clattered onwards through the empty, dark hallway.

Cables and wires were strewn on the floor as they rushed by door after door; time left them feeling under pressure to rescue their friends. They knew they had to hurry.

As they kept on running, Frisk made sure to keep a tight hold so they wouldn't fall off his back. As they got into a deep part of the centre, the skeleton abruptly stopped.

"H-hey dunkle... w-why have we... suddenly s-stopp?" the child timidly asked

The skeleton heard them but decided to keep quiet, feeling that there was something off about this part of the area.

A few moments of waiting gave him his answer.

Scrap... _scraaaaap!_

 _He could hear it. As he listened closely he could tell... that something was right behind that wall!_

"S-san-"

" **Shhh!** " he moved his hand in a gesture that told them to zip it. He felt a little quake and the whole building rumbled which made him jump out of his bones when something THUMPED loudly from behind them.

It approached closer and closer. Sans quickly stepped aside, hiding behind one of the other walls as he felt the child shaking.

He decided to play the waiting game, wondering what the creature would do next.

As carefully as he could, the short skeleton attempted to tiptoe without making a sound as he slowly stepped backwards further and further away.

He was nearly into a safe spot when...

 _RATTLE! ..._

He slowly turned around... _Shit!_ He thought, slapping a skeletal hand to his skull as he felt himself bump into one of the operation beds.

They heard a really loud snarling noise as the ground shook with an even greater intensity this time, making the operating table rattle.

The human child whimpered even more as a gigantic shadow threateningly loomed above them, ominous blood red bulging glowing eyes glared down at the two viciously. They had been spotted.

It had long pointed ears much like a cats, only they were much thinner. Long arms were bent, ending in pointed needle-like claws which were stained with blood. White spots covered its body like a pattern. It also had a patch mark on its right front paw and its left hind leg. Attached to its rear was a long winding tail, a forked claw sprouted at the end.

The three stood there for a few moments. Sans cautiously took out a bone sabre and he could hear Frisk's heartbeat and rapid breathing as the tension of the atmosphere grew.

He took a few steps back. The creature edged ever closer now, showing its yellow rotten fangs that were blackened from the rotting flesh in its mouth, the claw at the end of its tail rose.

Sans' eye widened at the swiftly striking tail and immediately threw the sharp sabre which struck the creature's foot.

 _SEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!_ It gave a deafening loud screech as it roared in pain.

The skeleton immediately took off as Frisk yelped in surprise at the sudden move, nearly falling off his back in the process; thankfully he lifted them back on as they tightened her grip securely again.

Sprinting as fast as his legs could take him Sans just kept running, not daring to look back; the raging roar of the demon cat sounding not too far from them.

Tables flew, chairs were flung over and whole lot more rumbling shook the hallway as Sans did his best to keep a steady ground. As he dodge left and right, one of the tables was extremely close to hitting them.

"Sans, look out!" Frisk yelled just in time for the skeleton to turn around and stop the flying object with a force. He threw it at the creature but it evaded the flying table. He swore under his breath in surprise as he continued to make a run for it.

" **That's one** ** _shady_** **creature alright** " he joked with a grin, hearing Frisk groan.

They turned, running into the next direction as they thought of a plan to escape.

Thump...THUMP! The skeleton's heart was beating. Not out of fright, but out of disbelief; surely they didn't take a wrong turn? All he could see around him now were enclosed shadowed walls.

 _... Stomp! ... STOMP! ... It was getting closer... STOMP STOMP STOMP! ... A low growl vibrated into the darkness_

Frisk gulped in panic, their heart racing, terrified to turn around because they knew... they knew that horrible creature was right behind them and that it was going to eat them.

They were trapped with nowhere to run. It was a dead end.

The tension of the room inflated like a balloon as the human child just sat there on the skeleton's back unable to do anything. They felt helpless; they wanted to help but didn't know what do to.

They hated feeling of being so scared, and so weak. They hated feeling like a hindrance to those who were always there for them.

Something stirred, whirling within the skeleton's body like a hurricane as his sockets went blank.

Memories flashing back from when he didn't take responsibility a year ago started to resurface. He shook his guilt and bad feelings aside as something burned in his SOUL, igniting brightly like a flame.

 _The resolve to protecting the child filled him with DETERMINATION_

" **... Hey Frisk you remember what I said?** " he exclaimed, a blue fiery aura pouring out from his right socket, a determined sharp smirk played on his face as his attention was centred on the monster now.

" **I said I would protect you, and this monster isn't gonna lay a** ** _shady_** **claw on you. Heh, get it?** " he grinned as he saw them smile, immediately evading a claw swipe that came at them.

Summoning a row of large bones, he shot them straight at the monster which re-directed the attack back with the swing of its clawed tail and gave a loud roar that made the human child cup their hands over their ears to block out the sound.

As the skeleton evaded another tail attack from the monster, he summoned two gaster blasters searing its body with scorching energy beams, hearing its howl of anger and pain.

As Sans continued to dance around the creatures attacks and annoy it with taunts Frisk giggled cheering their dunkle on.

The creature driven insane', unleashed gigantic waves of sharp pointy black needles that protruded from out of the ground like a fissure causing the earth to split.

Sans almost tripped from the unexpected surprise attack, nearly sending the wobbling child flying.

"Aaaah! Sans I'm gonna fall!" they panicked, keeping a tight hold on him as much as they could.

" **Just don't let go!** " he shouted back, dodging the last hurdle of black-death spikes by a margin as it popped out right in front of his face. A cold sweat trickled down his white cheek bones and his forehead while he slowly retreated from nearly being impaled in the face.

A large clawed tail violently swung by right at that moment, striking Sans in his ribs which knocked the skeleton off his feet and sent the human child falling off his back as they saw him landing a meter away from them.

"Sans! Are you okay?" they called out distressed as they got to their feet and started dashing towards him when they were suddenly blocked by row of shadow spikes.

As they tried again, spikes turned up once more nearly catching them as they gasped. Fear began to take root in their SOUL. They shuddered, panicked about what to do as the relentless attacks continued. The human barely evaded them as they were running.

"S-Sans! dunkle Sans! H-help me!" they cried, finding themselves backed into a corner.

Large red orbs glared ravenously upon the small frightened form, the shadow cat creature licked its lips at finally having its chance to eat. Frisk buried their face in their tiny palms quaking fearfully. They felt their SOUL dim with doubt at the feeling that they weren't going to make it through.

 _I'm not going to make it... I... this is it for me..._ they thought as the monster leapt at them.

...Thump...THUMP... _THUMP!_

" ** _YoU'Re NoT GoInG tO DiE oN mE aRe YoU?~ SuReLy YoU'Re NoT 'GiViNg Up' NoW. OtHerWiSe WhO aM I gOiNg To PlAy WiTh?_** " a mocking voice echoed in Frisk's mind.

They were afraid... they didn't want to die.

They felt a strange sensation suddenly surge from deep within their chest and course throughout their whole being.

Their SOUL flared up in a shimmering aura of determination red as it pulsed. The pupils in their eyes disappeared, only the white shells remained. Enveloped in the energy, celestial wings of ruby and black formed from their back coating the edges in a shimmering, glossy sheen, spreading out a meter wide. Feeling the burst of overflowing power, the child's mind was wiped blank as they rose into the air.

Raising their hands mechanically like a robot, a violet-red flame viciously swept over the creature like an inferno. A blood-curdling scream erupted from the dying monster before it exploded, its remnants evaporating into black wisps of smoke before disappearing forever.

The skeleton simply stared at the child in awe, he was speechless. It wasn't long before he snapped out of his trance though as he saw a fainting Frisk go limp, falling. As the tall spikes of darkness he was trapped in disintegrated, the skeleton teleported towards them, catching the human just in time before they fell to the ground.

As he cautiously walked ahead, the skeleton kept an alert eye-socket out for anymore creatures like the one they had just encountered. So far so good, they hadn't had to confront another one.

Keeping the unconscious child held in his arms the whole way, he felt guilty... he felt he failed protect them again.

 _I promised I'd protect them... yet... I..._ he trailed off shaking his head. This was no time to be filled with regrets. The things that had become a main priority now were seeing that his little brother and his other friends were safe.

The skeleton kept a firm hold, drawing the kid close to his chest as he gave her a worried glance every so often.

 _Weed... I hope you're doing okay. Just hang in there, we're coming._

***************

They arose drowsily, their vision blurry from having the feeling of waking from a very deep sleep. Rubbing the dirt from the corners of their eyes, the child yawned blinking themselves aware to their surroundings- their head throbbed with the heaviness that clouded their mind. They found themselves lying in a giant bed covered by medical green and white hospital sheets.

The child backed up a little, feeling nervous and afraid at the presence of an unfamiliar face.

"It's alright punk, there's no reason to be alarmed. This is Lydia. She's a nurse and the one who helped Flowey to feel better" said a gruff female voice.

At hearing the voice, the small form saw an ocean blue fish monster with yellow fins and a slanted lemon eye looking at them with a toothy grin. Her left eye was encased over by a black eye patch. Her red flaming hot long hair was tied up in a high pony tail as she was clothed in a black sleeveless shirt. Around her neck was a shark tooth pendant. She was also draped in midnight pants and coral red boots with soot black stripes.

"HUMAN! OH MY GOODNESS, I'M SO RELIEVED TO SEE THAT YOU ARE UNHARMED." said the tall skeleton.

Frisk was relieved to see some familiar faces as they immediately jumped at the chance, giving both the fish monster and tall skeleton an embrace.

"Undyne! W-what are you doing here?" Frisk exclaimed, eyes beaming with happiness, the corners of their mouth turning into a wide smile.

"Keeping an eye on you till you woke up so I could have a fight with you again! We totes need a re-match sometime." The fish monster declared while returning the hug, seeing the child smile and break into a laugh at her joke.

She turned to the taller skeleton and smiled "And Paps. I'm glad to know you weren't hurt either! Sans and I were so worried about you."

"WHY OF COURSE I AM UNHARMED. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AFTER ALL!" he posed in a dramatically heroic manner, flexing his biceps as his red scarf trailed gracefully from below like a ribbon.

"... BUT REALLY, IF IT WASN'T FOR UNDYNE, I SUPPOSE WE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN A LOT MORE TROUBLE. BUT DON'T WORRY, EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE FINE." Papyrus beamed cheerfully, trying not to let the discomfort show on his face. It made Frisk feel a bit better, at least for now.

A few moments later, their ears perked up. They thought it was due to the fact that they were really tired at the moment, that they were just hearing things.

 _... It was faint, but they were sure they could hear muffled voices nearby._

Curious, they eyed Papyrus with a questioning look as if to ask if he knew something. They noticed sweat dripping down his four head and stared at him for an even longer time.

It wasn't long before they broke him.

"U-UM... EXCEPT... THERE MAYBE JUST ONE _TEENY TINY PROBLEM_..." He confessed with a nervous gulp, pulling at his scarf a little.

Papyrus was never truly any good at hiding things nor was he a very good liar. However he was good when it came to being entrusted with something scared, like secrets or even looked up to for advice. Frisk was thankful for the fact that the skeleton was honest.

Immediately they began moving out of the bed but the nurse tried to prevent them. Holding a now struggling Frisk firmly within her arms as the child kicked at her.

"Now now child, don't be naughty. You need to rest" scolded Lydia

"Let me go!" shouted Frisk "I'm fine!"

Undyne gestured for the nurse to let the struggling child go; the nurse knew protesting wasn't any good. Reluctantly she set little one back down to the ground who left, scurrying ahead as the group watched them leave.

" ** _QuItE tHe ReBeL aReN't YoU?_** " the mocking voice sounded again, rather amused by the situation.

Frisk heard the voice this time, but couldn't tell from where it was coming from. But they didn't have time for solving this mystery right now. They had more important things to attend to.

As they crept closer Frisk could hear the voices more clearly. Putting an ear to the wall, they listened in. Gasping in realisation as they peeked out from the corner, they saw the familiar faces of the flower and the skeleton who were having a heated argument.

"But what if they won't wake up?! How do you expect us to explain this to Toriel?! She'll absolutely kill you, Smiley!" yelled a berserk and frantic Flowey

" **Don't friggin' yell at me Weed! Everything happened all so fast, it was too late before I could do something!** " Sans replied angrily.

"Still, you should have taken better precautions!"

" **I tried my best! Okay?!** "

Seeing them fighting made the child upset. They strongly disliked it when discord happened among their friends... in fact they hated it. They always felt they were in the middle of it in some way or another... It always made them feel... guilty.

 _Why am I always in the centre of this...?_ the child whimpered in frustration.

 _And now because of me... Flowey and Sans are fighting._ They felt bad and desperately wanted the fight to end before it escalated any further.

They were about to intervene when the fish monster came up from behind them, gently putting a scaly hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Hey... you okay punk?" she asked, feeling concerned that the kid's mood had dampened a lot from just a while ago.

Frisk remained silent, clenching their small hands. Immediately the child ran towards her, hugging the tall fish for comfort. Kneeling to the little kid's level, Undyne knew it, embracing the child gently in her claws as she stroked the child's head gently, holding them until they calmed down from the sobbing.

"What's the matter...? You wanna tell pirate eye what's up? Arrrgh!" the fish monster grinned and Frisk giggled through their tears, slowly cheering up a little.

"W-well... it's... it's just... I always feel bad when they start a fight. I always seem to... be in the way..." they frowned guiltily, sadness clogging their spirit as more tears trickled down their plump cheeks.

"Aww come on now. It's nothing like that I'm sure. You know that those two care about you a lot, right?" she tried to reassure the human, handing them a tissue.

The child nodded in response, taking the tissue as they wiped their face from the tears and the trickling snot, not expecting the fish to swiftly sweep them off their tiny feet as they were boarded on the fish's right shoulder.

"Then come on! We're gonna go shut some mouths up! YEAH!" the fish monster raised an arm in the air and fist bumped her chest. Frisk laughed at Udyne's random outburst.

Aside from their mother, their older sibling Chara, the flower and the skeleton brothers, Frisk held a huge admiration for Undyne. Somehow, the fish monster always knew how to cheer them up whenever they were sad.

They never knew how but, they were glad that Undyne was their friend, because it always made them feel reassured to know that one of the strongest people were here to help them.

They loved their friend's random outbursts the most. It's one of the reasons the child always felt they had a close tie with her. They were like another big sister to them.

The fish grinned at seeing the child cheered up. As they approached the squabbling friends a few moments later. She extended an arm backward into position, summoning a long blue glowing spear.

The javelin came thundering down like a lightning bolt upon the flower and skeleton, landing right in between them as the earth cracked beneath their feet. They jumped in surprise at the sudden swift attack.

"Alright break it up you two. Quit arguing like a bunch of old broomsticks, the punk's awake!" Undyne shouted in annoyance at the fact that the flower and skeleton were still going and were now practically at each other's throats with a vine wrapped around the skeleton's neck and him putting a mitten hand on the flower's face.

"Fri **sk**!" they exclaimed together. As the fighting ceased, they turned to face the human and fish. Both of them were relieved as they rushed over to Undyne, crowding themselves around the small child.

"I'm so glad you're okay! You scared us half to death you moron." chided Flowey, grasping the human in a tight embrace.

" **Yeah it's good to see you're all in one piece, kid.** " Sans ruffled Frisk's hair playfully with a hand.

The child stared up at the two with large glittering brown eyes, tightly embracing them back.

"I... I'm sorry guys. I'm sorry I worried you. Please don't fight because of me. Whenever you do, I always feel... like it's my fault." they soured again, their frown returning.

"Don't be daft you idiot. None of this is your fault." The flower rolled his eyes, making a firm tone with the upset child.

" **Hey you know it's always a skele-ton of fun fighting with Weed. Sometimes, he admits he LOVEs it too~** " Sans teased.

"W-what... No I don't!" pouted the flower, leafy arms crossed.

The short skeleton simply gave a mischievous stare as his permanent grin of a smile split into an even broader one.

"Q-quit laughing at me! I'm not talking to you, Smiley! You know I still hate you, trashbag." Flowey turned away upset- embarrassed. His face turning a light shade of pink as he heard Sans chuckling away.

Frisk smiled, relieved that the two were making up. Well to an extent anyways.

In the distance, they saw Undyne speaking to Papyrus before the two left together. They wondered if anything was wrong, but they figured they probably needed a bit of privacy as they turned their attention back to the short skeleton and flower.

A few minutes later Flowey scoured the area, wanting to make sure no one but the three of them were around as he turned his attention back to Frisk.

"... Frisk..." he looked at them a bit ashamed, his head lowered slightly "I'm sorry that you had to see that... it's just, me and Smiley-" they put a finger to the flower's lips "I know, you guys were worried... and it's okay, really." they smiled, removing their finger again.

"I feel much better now. I'm just glad... that you're okay my little flower" they said in a warm tone as they picked him up, gently placing him into the opening of their jacket, being careful not to put him in too roughly due to the healing injury.

"Just promise me one thing-" he eyed them closely, his expression stern "Don't worry us like that again... I... I don't want you dead" murmured the flower, water drops pricking his beady black eyes.

" **Yeah, none of us do, kiddo,** " said the skeleton joining in, noticing the flower bury his face into the human child's jacket.

"I'm sorry..." the child mumbled regretfully, "I'm sorry to you both. I promise this time, I'm going to get stronger" they stroked the flower comfortingly on his head.

" **And we'll lend a** ** _hand_** **to help** " Sans joked again, making Flowey groan as he quickly popped his head back up and Frisk giggle " **But really, you saved my life kid, and I'm eternally** ** _grate-ful_** " he winked sending the child into another fit of snorts.

"Oh my god Smiley, seriously, enough puns already!" he pleaded with a roll of his eyes like always after rubbing them.

The skeleton shrugged casually " **I thought you weren't talking to me. What happened, Weed?** " he raised a non-existent eyebrow curiously.

The flower stayed quiet for a few minutes before turning away again in a grumbling tone.

The child frowned a little at this, giving a sleepy yawn while the skeleton gave a warm grin at the kid and a shrug.

" **Welp, I think it's about time we hit the hay.** " said Sans picking up the small one into their arms.

Just then Undyne and Papyrus re-entered the room regrouping with them.  
"Alright punks' things should be fine around here for now. Tomorrow should be as normal. We will be keeping an eye-patch out in case things get outta hand again though" she said with a note.

" **Alright pirate eye, we'll see ya in the morning" he nodded,**

 **"Oh and, Paps... It's good to know you weren't hurt. Love you a skele-ton bro.** " Sans smiled warmly through his sharp grin.

"THANK YOU SANS... I LOVE YOU TOO, BROTHER" Papyrus returned a smile.

With a wave of farewell the gang headed their separate ways for the night.

-

 _A throbbing sensation swept over their mind... like a fire, the pain persisted for a while before slowly subsiding into a small pulse that ebbed away at the back of their skull, until it disappeared completely._

 _... Drip...drip... they thought they could hear something familiar... drip...DRIP... suddenly they felt it touch them, the wet, cool texture dripping down their left shoulder to their front._

 **Frisk...**

 _Their ear automatically twitched- they could've sworn they heard something but it could've been their imagination. Opening their eyes awake, they were surprised to find themselves in a shallowness that appeared to feel like water, but in reality they saw... that darkness surrounded them from all over._

They peered at themselves in the water's reflection seeing that they were in their pyjamas of a black t-shirt decorated in white daises as well as blue short pants with three white hearts trailing along the right side. Aside from that, they were barefooted, though the water felt strangely warm under their feet.

"...W-where... am I? ..." they pondered; lifting themselves from the pitch-black pool as they began walking along, still feeling uncertain and afraid about where they were.

"H-hello?" they called out into the empty void. They waited a few moments... but no one answered.

They were about to call out again when something buzzed in their head.

 _They felt... something trying to connect within their mind._

"Hello!" they called out again more confidently.

 **F-fr-frisk...** **Frisk...**

They heard a faint echo this time.

 **Frisk, yes I am here.**

"W-who are you...?" the human child asked.

 **That is none of your concern for now. Follow the path ahead, and keep going... Frisk.**

Frisk repeated the question but instead of getting an answer like they wanted, the voice ignored them.

 _Welp... looks like I'm not going get anything out of this guy._

They reluctantly did as the voice had told them and started to follow the path.

Soon they noticed that the scene had begun to change. The darkness slowly eroded into that of a familiar area.

"This is..."

 **Yes, this is the laboratory you visited back at Waterfall.**

"But why am I here?" they asked in confusion.

There was no answer.

"H-hello?!"

Still no answer.

They started to fear that they were by themselves again. They waited a while longer, but the voice never came back. They knew because... the connection with the voice they felt before... the link which had be present in their mind had vanished. They realised that the only way to go was forward.

The hallway stretched like an endless path that wove on forever as the human carried on their stroll through the dark waters; the splashing of the large sea echoing from behind. They didn't feel any fatigue which they found to be strange.

Suddenly they felt the darkness beginning to return. A feeling of unease wormed its way into their core as a large metal door just like the one they had seen at Waterfall that time appear right in front of them.

Frisk stared at the gate hesitantly. Their hand gripped the knob, and before they knew it... _Click. It twisted, jarring the door wide open._

 _Grooooan..._ The gateway into another dark path was awakened.

 ***Thump*... they felt their SOUL pulsing.**

 ***THUMP* she entered inside, fear gnawing at their chest.**

 ***THUMP!* they saw a little bit of a light.**

As they moved closer they thought they saw... a shadow.

At first they couldn't make out who the figure was then they heard it shouting.

" _H-help...Help me!_ " the voice echoed clearly- _that voice_ they gasped... _there was no mistaking it-_

"MK!" they rushed forward without a second thought- but when they got there, they felt... that something wasn't right as they saw the small figure just standing there.

They blinked in confusion.

Something flashed by in a blur, and then they felt it...

 _Guilt gripped them again as glinting blade of black coursed right through MK's stomach- a crimson liquid dripping._

 _Those void sockets of the small monster stared at her accusingly; they knew by the way he was staring at them, they felt...horrible._

"N-no... Noooo!" they screamed in anguish as she clutched the small body... they couldn't _save him...again._

" _Fr-Frisk...W-why...why d-didn't...y-you s-s-save... m...me..._ " were his last weeping words before his body slowly melted away into a liquid goop seeping through their hands. His corpse disfigured and mutilated as the colour of his bright golden skin faded into a dull dead grey before nothing else remained.

They fell to a crumple on their knees staring at their mirror reflection in the darkness of the water...shocked and horrified.

The scene replayed in their mind over and over again like an old tape recording.

 _The way he was stabbed... those accusing eyes..._

 _'_ _W-why…why d-didn't… y-you... s-save m-me...?'_

The echoing words never left their mind as they still heard his dying voice trailing away into the shadows.

 _An ominous giggle rang out faintly through the hall a while later._

Frisk felt another presence... something else had entered the link...

They wasn't sure why, but they knew... _they just knew that this presence was something bad._

The scene began to transform again, this time to a sort of grey-ish white background but the black pool still remained as they heard the splashing of the water again.

Someone approached.

" _ **JeE... SuCh a SaD sAd EnDiNg. iF OnLy TiMe CoUlD'Ve SpArEd YoU a wHiLe LoNgEr, MaYbeee YoU CouLd'Ve SaVeD HiM~**_ " taunted a dark voice. It sounded... female, and distorted.

The child could feel the presence close behind them. They whipped around to face the one who spoke.

The being appeared similar appearance to them with short spiked hair that ended just a little above her shoulders.

The only difference was, the being wore an ash grey sweater that had two lighter grey stripes trailing across her body and a stripe which ended on each sleeve, a little like Frisk's old sweater. She was draped in jet black pants with a white shadow-like claw arm that swirled from the bottom which held a white heart, while at the bottom, covering her feet were a pair of grey shoes.

A round her neck was a silver glass mirror pendant in the shape of a heart turned over that glinted faintly within the dimness of the light. Her grey face also seemed to be painted with darker eyes. Round dark circles were imprinted to her cheeks to which Frisk thought... they appeared to mirror Chara a little, as well as them.

It was no friendly visit though. From experience, although their counterpart was never truly physically abusive to them, Frisk knew that their dark mirror self was a dangerous enemy.

After all, she was created from Frisk's negative emotions.

She was their mirror image.

The two stood there for a while staring at one another. A cold air in the atmosphere blew across them as an uncomfortable silence lingered for a bit.

" ** _LoNg TiMe nO sEe yOuR MaJeSty. HaS iT rEaLlY bEeN a YeAr AnD a HaLf?_** " she stated gesturing with a mocking bow. She pretended to ponder over the last time the two had spoken though she knew all too well that they always spoke, whether Frisk was dreaming or not, given it had been a while.

Frisk stayed silent.

" _ **GiViNg mE ThE SiLeNt TrEaTmEnT hUh? GoOdNeSs, iS ThAt aNyWaY tO TrEaT An oLd 'FrIeNd', FrIsKy-PiE?~**_ " she smirked playfully, her void black sockets swirled with an edge of mischief as the mirror heart emanated with a malicious aura as black the SOUL that displayed from the left side of her sweater.

"W-we're... we're not friends." the child stated, trying to sound blunt but their mirror counterpart could feel them quivering slightly despite trying to hide it.

" _ **HmMm... I tHiNk It QuAliFiEs A fAiR bIt, CoNsIdErInG I wAs ThE oNe WhO gAvE yOu ThAt LiTtLe PuSh bAcK tHeRe~**_ "

Frisk didn't say anything for a while.

"I know... it w-was you who was talking earlier. I just didn't respond because I... had s-something else to d-deal with." said Frisk.

" _ **WeLl iT's ThOuGhTfUl tHaT yOu NoTiCeD mE~ I wAs bEiNgInG tO ThInK yOu WeNt DeAf**_ " she remarked in her usual mocking and teasing tone.

"Oh come on! Y-you know I heard you." grumbled Frisk as they watched a satisfied smirk form on their dark self's face. They knew that their counterpart was getting under their skin.

"W-what are you doing here a-anyways Ksirf," It was more of a statement than a question.

" _ **iSN't iT oBvIoUs? I jUsT CaMe tO sAy hI**_ " she stared at Frisk innocently with that poisonous pretense of a sweet smile she always had on her face as she approached the human close.

Frisk immediately backed up but before they could go anywhere, they were wrapped by the waist in their dark self's arms in an affectionate embrace as their faces where level with one another.

Ksrif stared at them with a smirk, squeezing them a little gently but firmly.

" _ **aNd JuSt WhErE dO YoU ThInK YoUr gOiNg, PaRtNeR?~**_ " there was a slight edge of mockery to her teasing tone when she stated that, and Frisk always hated it.

They flinched at the word 'partner', shuddering at the horrible memories from when they tred down _that route_. They never liked it when Ksirf termed them as such.

Frisk became flustered. Why they always seemed to blush when the strange sensation happened they didn't know; but it made them feel weird and uncomfortable as they struggled, trying to push themselves away from their dark mirror self, but when Ksirf wouldn't let go the human child sighed in a pout, arms folded while still keeping their guard up.

"I still know you're not just here to say _hi_ at all. Would you quit playing with me?" they glared in the hold of their darker self.

" _ **AwWw, bUt iT's FuN tO MeSs WiTh YoU~ i'M nOt DoInG aNyThInG wRoNg RiGhT nOw Am I?**_ " the mirror being grinned, ruffling the annoyed child's hair in a patronizing way with a hand.

"Ugh, okay first of all get off me." they growled, struggling again as they finally set themselves free. Ksrif was laughing and enjoying the fact that Frisk was getting annoyed while she toyed with them. The child stood a few steps away from her now, the redness still visible in their cheeks as they fumed.

" _ **YoU'Re sO aDorAbLe WhEn YoU'Re MaD FrIsKy~**_ "

"Sh-sh-shutup damnit!" they frowned.

That sent her dark side into another howl of laughter.

"A-anyways! We're going off topic. ... What the heck is going on? W-what what was that apparition...?" asked Frisk

" _ **HoW sHoUlD I kNow? YoU'Re ThE OnE WiTh ThE DrEaMs.**_ " Ksirf shrugged passively but a sly smirk spread across her face as she stared at her counterpart with a sinister knowing look.

It took a while to understand what their mirror self was talking about as they thought hard about it.

"Wait I... still don't get it,"

She patiently waited for her silly idiot of a counterpart to figure things out. She knew Frisk wasn't that dumb, even though the child had the condition of a moderate learning difficulty which meant that it took them a bit longer to catch on to things more than the average person normally would. But it still didn't mean she was going to help them out.

"You...you said **dreams** , which only means... I'm asleep right now. And if... if that's the case, then..." they trailed off.

" _ **ThAt'S rIGhT iDiOt, YoU oNlY hAvE yOuRsElF tO bLaMe FoR wHaT hApPeNeD,**_ " Ksirf sneered.

" _ **YoU fAiLeD tO sAvE HiM. AnD nOw aT tHe CoSt oF yOuR fAiLuRe, AnOtHeR OnE oF yOuR BeLoVeD OnEs MiGhT NoT bE SaVeD. It'S tOo LaTe, FrIsK; yOuR pReCiOuS SiStEr WiLl SoOn FaLl To ThE dArKnEsS aT hAnD, aNd It'Ll bE aLl YoUr FaUlT.**_ "

"N-no... NO! N-not C-chara...Not Chara!" the human child panicked

" _ **InEeD, yOu'Ll NeVeR sUcCeEd At ThIs RaTe.**_ "

Frisk felt the arm of their mirror side snake around them. They could feel the warmth of the being's breath down their neck as they felt a whisper.

" _ **BeCaUsE yOu'lL AlWaYs Be A fAiLuRe.**_ " The mirror being cackled.

"NO!" they shouted with their hands on their head as though they were losing it. The darkness began surrounding them as they felt themselves falling, a trailing cruel laughter sounding in the distance.

 _They continued falling... falling deeper into the depths of nowhere. At this point they felt they didn't care as hot wet tears spilled from their eyes. They were a failure. If they couldn't even save their friend who died in the past... how were they going to save Chara?_

 _Suddenly, at the back of their mind a familiar voice called out to them._

 ** _Frisk, pull yourself together. You are anything but a failure!_**

The human child knew that it was the voice from before but they didn't want to listen.

 _ **Frisk, what happened wasn't in your hands; it was out of your control. If you insist on being convinced of what Ksirf wants you to become, then at your own demise you WILL become what she will enjoy you to being; an utter failure. You know deep within your heart, within your SOUL that you are much better than this.**_

Frisk perked their head up as the voice vibrated through their being.

 **You are a kind hearted, willing, and determined person, Frisk. And should your friends lose you, they will be missing a vital member of their group. One who has the soul power to stay determined for a lot longer than any monster in this underground.**

 **If you hurry, you may still catch up to the one who is controlling Chara. Your sister still lives, they're doing their utmost best to fight that terrible darkness in themselves too. They're on their way to Hotland right now, and if you depart tomorrow then you may just be able to make it**

A hopeful spark filled their spirit. Their SOUL burned intensely.

 **Whatever you do, child, do not give up. Carry the resolve to keep a strong belief in yourself, your friends and always remember who you are and what it is that you are fighting for**

"But who ar-" they suddenly felt themselves slipping further and further away as everything around her swirled and soon they fell unconscious again.

Their subconscious tore them away from the dream-world, making them slowly sink back into reality.

Although that new voice was a complete mystery to them, and whoever it did belong to, they gave them the hope and courage they needed to fight off Ksirf. Somehow... they could feel that they were becoming a little stronger already because... the hope that they still had a chance at saving their sibling filled them with... **DETERMINATION**


	5. Chapter 4- A trip down memory lane

_Gloomy shadows swirled gathering like a angry flock of ravens in the blackened sky. The roar of thunder and flashes of violet lightening tore through the foggy clouds sending with it a torrent of rain which descended from above like a waterfall, drenching a small figure who wore a navy blue and long sleeve blouse imprinted with a star that onced sparkled in moonlight of silver glitter but was now tainted a dull grey, torn on the left shoulder and singed with grey soot._

 _They were panting from being short of breath, their body ached from exhaustion and pain from running too fast, and the burns that were marked on them when they were escaping the blazing fire. They weren't the best when it came to running. P.E wasn't their favourite subject at school._

 _Disbelief still stuck on thier face like super glue. Who could have done such a thing? The memories burned into their mind... just like the red flames that had overtaken their house and their family in an instant.. save for... they gazed down upon a tanned smaller form with glistening brown eyes that was clutched closley to their chest and wrapped in a cotten blue blanket from the cold, a white snowflake was dusted with ash at the front._

 _Soon they had come to an isolated clearing with a little spring, it was a special place they always visited with their younger sibling. This place always seemed to strangely washed away all the sadness they felt when they were feeling down about something. It had always lifted their spirits..and they also had a few good memories here with thier mom and dad... they just wanted one last look before they wouldn't see this place ever again._

 _After all... they'd rather runaway than be put in an orphanage... and seperated from their baby sis. They knew that those places were horrible. They just didn't know where to go... they were thinking._

 _A spark suddenly lit up in thier mind like a light bulb...it dawned on them, back when they had their geography lesson with , she mentioned about and its location and if they were right, the small child knew that was not too far from where they lived because they were close to the canyon._

 _It was a long trek up but they couldn't give up now, only a few more strides was all it took if they were to reach the summit- slowly they staggered and collasped on the floor, gently laying the crying baby right next to them after using the last of their strength to determinedly climb the last steps; finally... they reach the top._

 _The scene had suddenly changed to a memory of when they were relieved that the bed of golden flowers had cushioned their fall, and their first meeting with a strange dinosaur-like monster._

 _Slowly they regained conscious. Their sunset amber eyes flickering open to the bright light that stung them. Suddenly they remembered... Cynthia! Thankfully nothing had happened to the baby.. they must have shielded her. They stared up at the opening of the chasm, seeing how tiny it was from this view. 'That was one really long fall...' they said in a zone out feeling._

 _They heard an aburpt crying which snapped them out of thier daze as they gently rocked their baby sis, not soon after she calmed down and was curiously eyeing the bed of flowers and babbling. Amilia smiled weakly, warmth filling her heart knowing her baby sister was okay._

 _They turned their head slightly, slowly staggering to their feet and clutched the baby close to them meekly calling out as they ached all over from the impact of the long fall._

 _They heard a rustle,_

 _"H-hello?!" they shouted a little louder this time "W-wh-who's there?"_

 _They saw a short figure soon stumble out of the shadows. She wasn't much taller than them, only around 4 centimeters. She was an orange reptile dressed in a pink collar shirt and white lab coat; etched around her muzzle were a small pair of round glasses. With her was a small blue strange creaure that seemed to resemble a little jelly with cat ears, a long tail with a sea blue ribbon tied to the end, a cute pink nose with thin silk whiskers and lavender orbs. Aurora thought that the little thing reminded them of a cartoon character they used to watch sometimes on T.V.  
'Heh.. those were some good times' they thought to themselves._

 _"O-oh my gosh! A-are you a-alright?" gasped the lizard monster, mostly in shock horror at seeing the state the poor girl and her sister were in as she rushed over to try and help, only to see the neverous look in the girl's eyes who backed away from seeing something so different from them._

 _The lizard bit her lip, flinching at seeing they were afraid of her but then smiled to reassure them "D-don't worry, y-you'll be safe here. N-no one's going to hurt you. Hi my name i-is Alphys and this i-is my assistant Galaxy. Wh-what's your name?"_

 _The human remained silent for the moment, she never liked who she was, she hated her life as Amilia after losing her family so she decided she wanted a new name... something that would allow her to start her life a new- "I-I... I'm A-Aurora... and this is my baby sister R-ruby.." she stuttered, eyeing the lizard wearily, still feeling afraid as she saw Alphys smile "Awww s-she's so adorable"_

 _"U-um... so i-if you two don't have anywhere else to go y-you... c-could come and l-live with me" the lizard awkwardly grinned._

 _Aurora paused for a long moment... then to the lizard's surprise, they nodded and let Alphys lead them into their lab._

 _ ***The feeling of making a new friends to reassure you of a new safe home and new family... fills you with DETERMINATION***_

-

 _3 years later, after they had gotten used to living with the monsters when they just turned 10 on their birthday and their sister had turned 5 and a half, they knew that eventually Alphys was going to ask them about their past life on the surface, before they fell down into the Underground. They dreaded it really, they weren't comfortable talking about it to anyone because of how traumatic it was to lose their family, but the lizard slowly made them feel calm, calm enough that they were able to trust her knowing that they weren't going to hurt them, despite the fact that they were always going to be affected by their past scars, she made them feel that they didn't have to suffer in silence about it anymore and that they could tell someone._

 _So Aurora started their story. They mentioned how they used to have a really peaceful childhood and lived with who they called the 'best family ever' how their mom and dad had always done their best to care for them. They sent them to school and made them educated, they spoiled them every day, looked after them when they were ill.. even in the hardest moments of their lives when their family were having money problems, they stuck through it through thick and thin._

 _She remembered how it was a special day... infact it was the the last Christmas they'd have together.. then the flames..._

 _By this time Aurora felt their heart sink into the deep pain of guilt and shame, tears were streaming down their cheeks as Alphys held them tight in her arms. She told the child that they'd said enough._

 _Quietly they lay their for a while, until the doctor consoled them and asked them if they would like some ice cream. The child beamed at that, eagerly nodding._

After that memory, Aurora yawned, their body beginning to relax a little more easily at the last memory of their new family and soon, they fell asleep.

-

SLAP! Their body suddenly jolted awake at the wave of pain to their face, their eyes blurry with tears as they felt a surge of fear course through their veins. For a split moment they thought they saw... but no... it couldn't be.. could it?

"Wakey wakey, sunshine." mocked a familiar distorted voice. Aurora couldn't see who it was that was speaking to them because they didn't have their glasses. Their vision was a blur, all they could make out was a strange grey fuzz that looked like... a cloud of sorts as they held back a whimper. They couldn't remember who it was that was talking to them at first... but then, the memories of their encounter at the lab slowly returned as they recognised the voice.

"It's Y-you! W-what do you w-want from me?!" they tried to sound brave through their tear stained face.

"Oh you know, just the usual greetings. We're friends after all, aren't we, pal?" sneered the entity.

"W-we're n-not friends!" they retorted back and felt another rush of pain to their already reddened cheek as more tears streamed. They felt the warm breath of the freak close to their face as the entity whispered in a cold and hateful tone "You're never going to get out of here, not with the state you're in" they hissed.

Aurora attempted to move to try and push them away but felt their arms and whole body were bound back by something as they struggled.

"Don't bother struggling, you can't move... or haven't you realised where you are yet?" they smirked noticing an object that glimmered in the light by the human's feet. They lifted it up. On examination they realised it was their glasses.

A cruel smile spread across their face.

"What's the matter- can't see a thing,?" they saw them flinch at that statement. The entity sneered and made Aurora hear the snapping of their glasses. "Why don't you try 'seeing' without them for a while." they mocked "I'll be eagerly looking forward to watching you drown in the seas of despair!" with that they disappeared into the darkness that lurked ahead, their malicious laughter filling empty hall, leaving a fear stricken Aurora all alone.

They decided to anxiously wait for some time- when they couldn't feel the entity's presence by them, they knew that the creep wasn't coming back. They sighed, relieved and soon they started to try and struggle again, only for the black coils to tighten on them. They felt their chest clamp up as they exhaled to breath, they proceeded to call for help ...but no one answered.

They were feeling more determined now. They just needed to figure out a way to free themselves from these binds and if struggling wasn't the answer... then maybe... 'That's it!' Aurora concentrated, calming her nerves, they lay still as they felt the vines slowly loosen their grip until eventually, they sunk back through the grey stone floor.

The human was thinking if they had bought their spares with them as they dug into the pocket of their shirt, not finding them there; they found them in the front pocket of their jacket and slipped them on. Now they could see as clear as bright skies. They walked about heading upwards as they took in their surrounding. Dull grey path stretched out into an ever ending horizen, they couldn't tell where it ended. For all they knew it could stretch on forever, the feeling frightened them... 'being lost in this horrible place for all eternity...' they didn't want to think about it, choosing to walk on.

They viewed the blackened, leafless tall trees that towered like giants compared to their size, black liquid seemed to draw out from the tips of their branches.

 _*Creepy. You wouldn't expect any less from a crazed freak like them. You know, this kind of reminds me of that horror movie Haunted where Gazzel woke into some nightmare world._ thought Aurora... or was that really what they were thinking? It didn't feel like it.

They came toward a pathway that seemed to split in two directions, both paths seemed to look exactly the same. They were a bit puzzled. They weren't sure which one to take.

 _*You're unsure of what to do, but a feeling in your heart stirs as you decide to take the right. But honestly, if I were you, I'd go left._

They were confused about their thought process. Did they really want to go left? They didn't think that, did they? sighing in annoyance, they made the decision to just go with their gut and went right since it seemed that they were unable to make up their mind whatsoever.

It was a bit odd, but the pool of water under their feet didn't even feel that cold. They also noticed that it didn't stain their dark pants either.

A while later, they entered an area filled with more of those creepy trees that leeked that weird liquid. _'I k-kinda wonder what th-the liquid is. Maybe I should take a sample to examine it later..'_ pulling out a little glass tube they let a few drops of the inky goop fall into the bottle before screwing it shut with the corkscrew, placing it back in their jacket pocket as they carried on cautiously trailing along further up the path, feeling a nerve of unease.

 _*Still think it's a good idea that you came this way?_ okay this was getting weird.

"W-well it's better than standing at that foot path right?, at least I made my choice." they stated at what seemed to be nothing but the air.

 _*Awww, you don't have to hide it, I can sense your fear._ teased a child sounding voice

"N-no I'm not!" retorted Aurora, their pace quickening a little more, the air around them thickening with a dense fog.

Out of no where, multiple things could be heard protuding from the depths of the grey sea and the human's pace soon turned into full running speed. They didn't want to think about what it is that was going to get them through this haze. They felt a swift wind cut their face seeing something swoop right past them as they did their best to avoid whatever it was that was attempting to catch them.

Their legs were running out of energy, their chest fell short of breath, their lungs gasped for them to stop as they fell to their knees. A yelp erupted from their throat as they were yanked from their left ankle, slamming face down into the water. Kicking their legs to break free from the thing that grabbed them only made things worse as it started to slowly envelope their body in the horrible stuff.

They darted around for any sign of something to defend themselves with, not seeing one. Fear rose in their heart as they began yelling... but nobody came. They were going to be consumed by this horrible liquid thing and no one was going to care; they buried thier hands in their face, waiting for their death.

... Just as they had lost all hope of being saved, they heard a loud **SNAP!** and **SQUELCH!** the goop splattered on their hands... they opened their fingers, slowly removing them from their face, staring in utter shock and surprise.

Standing with thier back to them was a figure who looked quite human with silky, aqua hair that seemed to end just above their shoulders, the front ending in curvy tips. A gleaming, ocean blue sapphire pearl was pinned to the side of their hair. They were draped in a satin sleevless dress as white as snow that exposed their arms. Fluttering around the fabric along the waist were small silver butterflies. Though the dress wasn't very long, revealing part of their pale legs that were in bear feet. A mystical blue aura as bright as fire was enveloping them all around.

Aurora saw a teal blue whip curled around their left hand with a metalic silver handle that wore a light blue heart at its centre that seemed to also be glowing.

 _'that energy... were have I-'_

They were cut off from their thoughts as they felt a small shadow loom over them. They looked up, seeing a pair of azure, glittering calm eyes looking back at them, as they took their hand, pulling themselves up. In size comparison, they were 13 centimeters shorter than them, 'of course they would,' Aurora rolled her eyes, 'they're just a kid'. The human guessed that this child must be about 8 years old if she could fight and wield a weapon.

 _*You're not hurt are you?,_ asked the other being to which Aurora shook their head nervously, still in shock over nearly getting eaten alive.

 _*Then lets go before more of those freaky sap creatures grow_

The human nodded, follwing the strange being that seemed to appear out of no where, and so mysteriously too. So many questions were buzzing in their mind that they yearningly wanted to ask them right now.

It had to wait for another time though. Getting to a safe place was more important.

-

It had been a long ways distance since their time at the lab. Honestly, they were happy to be out of that place. It wasn't... exactly... no they wouldn't bother Themistocles with those thoughts. Right now, they had a very important mission they had to fulfill, and to do that, they need to get to an extremely special place- the one place that they remembered... had helped get rid of their creator... back in their world. That place, was the Core.

The figure colorless- all in an ash grey aside from the red streaks in their bushy hair and their venomous glowing purple eyes was resting for now. They were practically out of that volcano by now, and they were relieved to breath fresh cool air again. "I have no idea how anyone could even live there. It's practically a death zone." they said out loud. They were draped in the warmth of their plain hooded jacket, long, pants and shoes as they opened their left palm, a small round, ominous ghost purple creature cuddled in their hands emitted a relaxed growl, its eyes glowing brightly.

"Don't worry, Ven. All is going according to plan, because as soon as we reach the Core- boom! This place will be history." a smirk spread across their face, his other hand showing a black diamond shaped object that was surrounded in blood red energy.

'Though... I'll probably miss this place a little.. after all... 'he' was the one who made that accursed button that destoryed our world. I'll never forgive him for it' a memory flashed in the accursed enetity's mind from when he saw the tall skeleton with the many hands proceeding to push tha- suddenly they were bought out of their flashback by the vibration of their cellphone. They took it out of their pocket and saw who it was.

"Yo, AE here." they answered.

"Have you arrived at the specificed location yet?" a cheerful female tone responded

"Nope, but I'm almost there. I'm just 'chilling' at a nice cool spot at the moment. Why?,"

"You need to go their, now. If someone finds you lurking about, and you get caught, I'll have to save your ass again" they remarked playfully

"Pfft, like hell I'd need saving. You realise there's nothing stopping us here. I can take all the time I need to." they shrugged out of habit, they always did that.

"And I said 'go now'. If you get too lazy, and end up failing your mission, then we're going to have to have a 'heart to heart' talk." came the reply, this time in a much more serious and colder tone.

"Alright, alright. I'll get going in a flash. Calm down." they responded, a little annoyed at the woman's impaitence.

"Good. And just one more thing before we end this 'sweet little' convo. Don't. Fail. Me." at that the other end hung up.

Honestly... even though they pretended they didn't care, they were terrified about what she'd to do them next. Though they weren't going let that stop them.

"Come on little guy. It's time for us to get going." they smiled down at their pet who nuzzled into them, a warm feeling eminated from their black soul as they lazily elivated themselves up right, vanishing in a cloak of pitch-black.

-

It would be a while before they'd get to the Core, so they decided to have a bit of a walk around.

 _Grooooowl..._

Ven giggled at the storm that erupted from their owner's stomach which made their cheeks flush and a sheepish grin carved itself on their face. ...Maybe getting some info on a good place to eat should be something to cross off their list first. Luckily they weren't too far it seemed, they saw a sign in the midnight clearing 'Honcho's Brunch&Lunch' it stated pointing towards the eastern direction.

"Heh, must be our lucky day, Ven. You hungry too?" the purple blob nodded

They came upon an urban building. It had an oak brown roof, and walls that were decorated in a vibrant peach with darker orange stripes trailing horizontally across while just above the wide glass doors, lit up in bright neon red lights was 'Honcho's Brunch&Lunch'

They knew they had to be careful, they didn't want anyone to recognise them from the photo that was shown in the news.

So, deciding it would be safe, they morphed their colours into one that was more human.

Inside of it wasn't what they were expecting however. It just looked like any old bar, much like Grillby's. They would've thought it would look a bit more fancy. They shrugged and waited until the waiter showed up who gave them a strip of paper that had the number 10. Soon they got to ordering their food and drinks.

They chose a plate of fries and a hamburger, with a side of cola while Ven had picked out a glamburger which had already been vaccumed whole.

 _buuuuuuurrrrrrp!_

The entity chuckled, that was a sign that their pet had very much enjoyed their meal as they began to tuck into theirs.

For some strange reason they felt they were being talked about. It was faint but they could hear the commotion. They were wondering who it was, but then after a bit chose to ignore it and continued to enjoy their chips. That is...until two large men garbed in ink black armour approached.

"Excuse me sir," spoke the first

"Yes?" they answered calmly

"We've been told that a shady suspicious character was seen lurking around the quaters not too far from here-"

"And that they were also seen entering this restaurant." added the other guard who had a squeaky, geeky voice. The two presented the photograph of the entity with a purple round creature that was sitting on their head.

"Have you seen anyone, or perhaps know a character of such that entered in here earlier?" questioned the first guard.

"No, I'm sorry. I don't believe I have." they could feel their nerves tensing a bit as the guards studied them carefully like hawks. They stood their ground, keeping a calm, stone face. If they didn't react, the guards wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Hey bro, it doesn't seem like this guy knows anythin'. C'mon, lets search somewhere else" suggested the second.

"... Alright." responded his brother as they began to walk away. He knew something was fishy about the way this citizen was acting. He didn't trust what they were saying at all.

"Hey, buddy. There's... just one more question I need to ask you." said the guard, not even turning back around, though he could sense a dark presence near them.

"Did that shady person... happen to be carrying a **_diamond shaped_** object, exactly like _yours_?" he twisted around eyeing their left palm that was glowing with a black aura.

They silently summoned their pet drawing them to morph into two dual, ominious poison curved sickles.

The guard smirked knowingly under his helmet. They'd got them. "Oh, and you don't have to bother about hiding yourself. I can already tell, the colour is literally draining from you" the guard launched out an immediate attack with his javelin.

Heavy steel collided with energy blades before the strength of the guard knocked them back.

He was right, the colour really did start to peel off from them to reveal their true grey as they skirted to a stop a few meters from the two.

 _'D-darn. Not now! If only I could hold this morph for a little longer'_ they thought. They knew they didn't have much time. Using a short cut, they teleported right behind them, passing them by as the entity half turned to stare back at them with a mischievous grin, Ven sticking their tongue out at the guards cheekily. "If you want a real battle, you gotta try and _ketchup_ to me." with that the entity ran off.

"I knew there was something odd about him! Lets get him bro!" said the older guard,

"I'm right with ya!" the two ran after them, giving chase as they saw that they were heading towards MMT Resort.


	6. Chapter 6

The child stirred to the feeling of something tapping them. They could hear a faint sound. It became an echo, the shaking was more violent now, the voice frantic. Then they opened their eyes, jolting awake with a gasp and nearly shoving the flower over the edge of the bed. Thankfully he managed to pull himself up right with some extra help from his vines.

"H-hey! Watch where you use those things damn it! You nearly knocked me over," a familiar voice whispered loudly in annoyance.

They rubbed their eyes, blinking twice before seeing the flower, grinning sheepishly, their face coated a rosy red from embarrassment as they gently pulled the plant pot Flowey was sitting in towards them.

"Thank you. Let's not mention anything about the fact that I nearly fell off the bed and soiled myself in fright to Smiley trashbag please."

The child smirked then laughed a little too loudly at the flower's sour reaction, but was hushed by him with a quick wrap of a vine around their mouth. "We have to stay quiet. I don't want to wake him up," they nodded, having the flower unbind them from silence.

"Come on, I need to… talk to you. Outside"

Carefully slipping out of bed, the child cradled the flower into their arms, quietly sneaking out of their room after seeing a snoring skeleton in deep sleep. It didn't seem like he was going to wake up any time soon. That made them smile, knowing their dunkle was having a nap for the first time in a while without having to worry about anything.

-  
It was fairly quiet down in the living room. Only the whispers and crackling of amber flames dancing in the blackness of the fireplace's jaw filled the empty space with sound.

Sitting comfortably in a giant plush arm chair was a large goat dressed in a purple robe. Though she might have looked comfortable, her face wore the expression of someone who was very worried, her fingers drumming on the arm of the couch while she waited for responses from the monster she was calling.

No avail. Seemed like she was going to have to take matters into her own hands, or rather paws now; given the fact that her husband could be in trouble, she was concerned about him too. Though she knew Sans was strong and could often handle messy situations pretty well. She had a lot of faith in the skeleton.

She was more worried about, them. Though she knew that Chara would often come by alone, she felt that something… was different this time… they didn't come, and it was very worrying. She realized by this point that it was up to her as the mother to find out what had happened.

 _My child… wherever you may be, I hope you're safe. I'm coming_

 _ **N/A aaaaaaand here we go, just a simple sneak preview into chapter 5 for now. Sorry for not really making any author notes on previous chapters, but yeah as stated, Virustale takes 5 years after the events of Frisk's journey through the underground. Now uh... I know not a lot has been explained about the said bad guys in the story, or even Aurora Nebulem, but all I'll say is this: Aurora fell down before Frisk but she was never captured/killed due to reasons that will be explained in later chapters. And as for the villains, more background will be bought on them in the later chapters too.**_

 _ **Well anyho, hope you guys enjoy this little preview at least.**_


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